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Vicente Calderon
FOUNDER of the
National Latino Peace Officers Association
Vicente Calderon Biography
DEVELOPMENT OF LPOA
1972-1973
The purpose of writing about our early years is an effort to
provide some background on the formalization of the Latino Peace
Officers Association prior to 1974. This is also an
acknowledgement of the tireless work done by many fine
individuals to make this dream come true. There is still a lot
to recount in the evolution of this fine organization; of the
good fights taken on by courage’s people who felt, ya basta,
enough is enough. One of those individuals that stands out in my
mind for his courage and dedication is Joe Lopez. He filed a
class action suit through the courts against the County of Santa
Clara and was successful in generating a consent decree from the
court. His courage and suffering because of his ideals is a
story in its own right. However, there were also other victims
who saw the wrong and tried to right it, and who paid a high
price because of it. As stated, our LPOA is full of stories of
heroes, and I would like to recall these many individuals at a
later date. For now, I would like to narrate the events which
took place before the adoption of the Association’s Articles of
Incorporation and perhaps reveal the foundation for the LPOA to
become the National Latino Peace Officers Association, NLPOA.
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