Top Latina officer's demotion upsets Hispanic leadership
Latino community leaders to protest
Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis has demoted the department's highest-ranking Latina officer from deputy superintendent to sergeant detective, infuriating Hispanic community leaders and police officers around the state who said they plan to rally on her behalf in front of police headquarters today.
The decision to demote Gladys Aquino-Gaines, 48, a 30-year veteran of the Police Department, is part of an overall shakeup of Davis's command staff. The reorganization has been praised by Mayor Thomas M. Menino and criticized by District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, who says Davis should have consulted him before replacing the chief homicide detective.
Abel Cano Jr., spokesman for the Massachusetts Hispanic Law Enforcement Association, which represents about 80 Latino law enforcement officers around the state, said the demotion of Aquino-Gaines is a blow to the city's Hispanic community, which will have one less high-ranking official representing it in the Police Department.
"I think it's important we show support and let people know that we want people who are in those positions and are very well qualified to stay in those positions," he said.
Cano said that members of several Hispanic organizations, including Oiste?, a Latino political group, will attend the rally and call on Davis to reinstate Aquino-Gaines. "We're hoping that they will allow her to stay in her position," Cano said.
Elaine Driscoll, spokeswoman for Davis, declined to say why Aquino-Gaines, who was a liaison to the homeless community, was demoted. She will be replaced by Nora Baston, an African-American sergeant who led a team of officers on foot patrol in March in Grove Hall, one of the city's high-crime areas.
"The police commissioner believes it is crucial that the Police Department reflects the city we serve," she said. "He's dedicated to diversity."
Driscoll said Davis was impressed with Baston, who led one of three teams of officers who walked city streets in an attempt to reduce the number of shootings, drug arrests, and robberies.
In her new role as deputy superintendent, Baston will act as a liaison to the homeless community and expand the walking beat to other parts of the city, Driscoll said.
Aquino-Gaines could not be reached for comment. Giovanna Negretti, Oiste's executive director and a friend of Aquino-Gaines, said the officer was on vacation and had just learned that her grandmother was very ill.
She described Aquino-Gaines as a dedicated officer who for the last three years has worked with Oiste? to train Hispanic immigrants in self-defense, encouraged them to become more involved with their local police departments, and helped them start crime task forces in their neighborhood.
Aquino-Gaines, a cancer survivor promoted to deputy superintendent in 2004, has three sons, two of whom will be deployed to Iraq in the next few months, said her husband, Paul Gaines. 