Right now, though, praise for the north Bergen Police department in hudson county, praise for its diverse hiring practices. In fact, according to the National Coalition of latino officers, the north bergen pd is the leading department for diversity in the garden state. Out of the 110 officers of the north Bergen Police department, 55 more than half are hispanic. And here with us this morning, antonio hernandez, president of the National Coalition of latino officers, detective anthony ortiz, detective miguel vento, both from the north Bergen Police department. Welcome to you all. Thanks for being here on tiempo. Thank you. When you looked at them and decided to honor them and award them with being the most diverse department, you said they exceeded expectations when it comes to diversity. What do you mean by that exceeded expectations . Well, we found that they were they were out there engaging in the community in an attempt to ensure that people were taking Civil Service exams, the testing process, and making sure that people were being hired for police positions. Okay. And in analyzing the department, what did you look at other than just the makeup and the racial and ethnic background of the officers, what are you examining . Well, we also look at where officers are placed throughout the agency to ensure that there is diversity throughout the entire agency, including the detective bureaus, the traffic division, internal affairs, to ensure that it is reflective of the community. Okay. How many years you got . I got 13 years. 13 years with the department. Ethnic heritage is from puerto rico. Puerto rico. Puerto rican. Mom and dad . Yes, both. Both sides. Okay. You want to stress for me i wouldnt even say the importance but the need almost to speak spanish in north bergen. Oh, i mean, its a must, you know, and i think it all starts from our administration from the Mayors Office all the way down to the chief of police. I mean, they try so hard to just with the community that, you know, they make it like a must for us to just be one. Mmhmm. And you have nowadays with the population being primarily hispanic, you know, if youre an officer who doesnt know hispanic, youre just not gonna relate as much to the community. Tell me about that seasoned veteran sitting next to you right there. [ laughs ] this guy. My mentor. Miguel vento. Youve been with the force how many years to date . 24 years. 24 years. Thats great. Congratulations. The population of north bergen is what . People wise . How many people . 100 68,000. About 68,000. 68,000. And what percentage are latinos roughly . About 70 . 70 . 7 out of 10 people. Just about. So a typical day for you when you meet someone, is one of the first questions they ask you, Hablas Espaol . Do you speak spanish . All the time. All the time. From the minute i came on the job 24 years ago, you see the person comes up to the police desk or approaches an officer, yeah. And the minute you say yes, you see the relief. Thats my next question. What does that do for policecommunity relations . It just makes it so much easier for the community to interact with the police. Yeah. This way, when they have a complaint or they want to report a crime, it doesnt create obstacles for them. Theyre able to communicate easily with the Police Department. Do you think it builds trust . Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Which is essential. Sure. They feel more confident that theyre able to speak to the officers rather than, you know, have an obstacle where they have to get someone to help them to translate. You learned about them as the result of an audit that you did of the department. Yes. Why was there a need to do an audit . Well, the National Coalition of latino officers sits on various boards of civil Rights Groups. Mmhmm. We feel that the purpose of that is to provide information, dialogue, understanding between usually antilaw enforcement. Yeah. But what weve done is by sitting on their boards, were able to intersect their lives with law enforcement, bridging the gap between the two. And what we received was a complaint from one of the an officer complained to one of the civil Rights Groups named the latino action network, which were a member of. Yes. We received the complaint, and we immediately contacted the north Bergen Police department in regards to the complaint, and they welcomed us to come in and do the audit. And what we found was extraordinary, you know. When we came back to those organizations to tell them the numbers, they were blown away. They were blown away. Blown away. Sit tight. I got a couple more questions to ask you and about how you guys can serve as an example for perhaps other departments. When we come back, more on the diverse hiring practices implemented by the north Bergen Police department. Still ahead on tiempo how great is this latin boogaloo, the reigning music genre back in the 1960s seems like the focus of a documentary called we like it like that the story of latin boogaloo. Well talk about that when we come back on tiempo. Meet the moores were the moore family, and were always looking for ways to enjoy more. And got even more than we expected. Call now to get more. More speed. Like, 300 meg. More tv shows and movies on demand. More places to make more unlimited calls. Call now. For 89. 99 a month, youll get 100 meg ultra fast internet, hd channels included, and unlimited calling to international destinations. We find more good things every day more ways to watch more shows. On more wifi connected devices in our house. Time warner cable made switching easy with a one hour arrival window. They even made sure all of our connections were up and running before they left. Why settle for less, when you can get more call now. Get free installation with a one hour arrival window. And ask how you could get a 300 reward card. Welcome back to tiempo. Great news to share with you this morning about the north Bergen Police department in hudson county. One National Organization has honored the department for its diversity and its hiring practices, calling the north bergen pd the leading department for diversity in the garden state. Antonio hernandez is the president of the National Coalition of latino officers. Next to him, detective anthony ortiz, veteran detective miguel vento from the north bergen pd. Before you did the audit, there was initial concern, was there not, about the diversity or lack thereof within the department. It seems to me that the audit turned you around 180 degrees. Yes, and not only did it turn us around, but it also turned around the civil Rights Groups that were going after north bergen in their investigations. So what we did was pretty much we generated a report indicating that north bergen was diverse expectations when it came to promotional opportunities and hiring practices. And they went from a 180degree turn and, in fact, supported our findings. What did you like about what you saw not only within the department but within the internal Affairs Department of the north bergen pd . Well, we found that they had assigned investigators to the internal Affairs Division that spoke spanish. Yeah. And in an agency where 70 of the population is hispanic, thats very important to have. Why . Because people need to feel confident that theyre gonna be able to file a complaint against a Police Officer and to have that investigated, but more importantly, that the officer thats taking the information is also understanding of them. And in this case, we found that majority of their detectives in the internal Affairs Division were, in fact, hispanic. Okay. 14 years with the department . 13 years. 13 years with the department, and a long time for that guy there. I would assume in that time youve watched your community change, in one way, grow more latino but a community that i think used to be very caribbean latino cuban, dominican, puerto rican. Correct. Now i would argue it has evolved, right . Correct. Yes. Still latino but in different ways. More central south american, but still a lot of caribbean, but mostly central south american, yes. Has that been reflected in the Police Department . Absolutely. We have a lieutenant whos right now hes lieutenant in the squad, and hes El Salvadoran . El salvador. El salvador. Yes. Yes. So it just shows the diversity now in the Police Department. So the diversity, detective, needs to continue, correct, within almost within latinos. Oh, absolutely. Since i came on the job 24 years ago, i was the i was probably one of two hispanic detectives. Right. Officers. One transferred, and then i was the first hispanic detective in the department. Mmhmm. And since then, i was one. Now theres 65 out of 118. Yeah. So ive seen the Department Latino officers. Share with me what that does in terms of camaraderie amongst latino officers, whether theyre from panama, venezuela, puerto rico, the dominican republic, wherever. I think it just unites them all. It brings them all together as one big group, not singling them out as, you know, individual races or nationalities. Yeah. They all come together as one big group. Mmhmm. Makes it a big fraternity. Absolutely. Yeah. And helpful . Absolutely. Especially nowadays where theres so much mistrust in the police, you know. We come from a very transparent Police Department, and that starts from the top, and we have nothing to hide, because we are moving forward with our population and the latinos in our Police Department, and it shows. It shows, and thats why when they came in, we were very transparent. Whatever you want, you guys get. We had nothing to hide pretty much. What can other departments learn from the way north bergen handles its diversity in its police . I would say engage the engage the community in every way possible in an attempt to get young adults to take the police test. I think that what weve seen one too many times when there is a town thats not diverse or is not making attempts to diversify their Police Department, what weve seen is their normal response is, well, we give a test. We cant make anyone take the test. Mmhmm. But yes, you cant make them take the test, but you need to let them know that the test is taking place, and thats what weve seen in a lot of places that theyre not even notifying their community that theyre having a police exam. And thats why we engage the community. When we find out that theres a town having a police exam, we put it out there. We let everyone know. Expand on it further. Other than just taking the test, for you guys, do you have other departments or other your colleagues in other towns . You border what . Nine towns . We border nine towns. Nine municipalities in new jersey. Do some of them come to you and say, you know, how do you do it . How do you guys communicate the way you do . They actually do. Chief robert dowd are very proactive when it comes to programs that unite the Police Department with the community. For instance, we have coffee with a cop where you have mostly hispanic officers because its Community Policing division. And out of the five officers i believe, just five, four of them are latino. Right. So theyll go to a local library. Theyll sit with the residents of the town, and they can sit and they can talk to the officer about anything they want. We got to end it here, but i would argue that its not just caf\ with the cops. Its culture with the community. Correct. And you can talk about the things that you commonly that bond you, and that goes a long way. They get to know the cop, too, behind the badge. Yep. Get to know the cop behind the badge. Congratulations, guys. Its just fantastic what youre doing. And thank you for highlighting it and finding out what you did. So continued work in north bergen there. Coming up next on tiempo how about this the king of latin soul, joe bataan, is here to talk about a documentary called we like it like that the story of latin boogaloo. Thats coming up next. Dont change the dial. [text message alert] [texting] [crashing] we like it like that is a documentary about the history of latin boogaloo, a unique latin sound that originated in new york citys latino communities back in the 1960s. Go ahead, if you want to dance right now, nows the time. The nationwide distribution of the documentary is coming soon. Here to talk about the film, legendary latin soul king, former tiempo guest joe bataan and Mathew Ramirez warren, director of the film. Seor, c mo estamos . Bien, bien. Good to have you back on tiempo. The big boys. Yeah. Thank you. So, he came to you . You found him . I mean he came to me. Yeah . And i threatened him. [ laughs ] i told him, tell the facts and well get along. Okay. And he did. And when he came to you and said, im thinking of making this documentary, did you say i responded exactly like that. No, i told him. I said, if youre not gonna tell the truth, dont bother me. And thats what the problem was with this part of history. Okay. For a long time, the truth had never gotten out. All right. About what transpired during that time of the boogaloo, and now its surfacing. So, throughout the production, were you keeping an eye on him to make sure, you know. Oh, without a doubt. He couldnt do anything without me to a certain degree, you know. We worked very well together. I see you laughing here. [ laughs ] hes laughing. Its like hes a grandfather looking over you, saying, you know, eso no tambi\n. Fix that. Well, you got to remember joe bataan. You know, he grew up in east harlem. Yes. He did. Hes never quiet about his history as a gang mem gang leader. Yes. Man, but he still has that little street tough side with him. Where did you have the project . I mean, what brought that . Well, for me, i discovered the records and just became fascinated with the sound. I didnt grow up during that era, but i am a native new yorker, and as i learned more, i just felt like it was this beautiful, untold new york story and the music was important and that cultural moment was important. So i set out to find the musicians and tell their story. Mmhmm. Define latin boogaloo as opposed to salsa. La diferencia. The difference was the era and the language. It was a latin beat that was done and sung in english. Okay. So its a cha cha beat that gave a new identity to latin music. Mmhmm. Which actually helped save latin music at that time. Yes. As opposed to salsa, which would be a cha cha beat but with spanish lyrics . Exactly. Yes. Exactly. Thats the primary difference. The source material for the documentary how did you find it, how did you get it, where did you go to find it . Well, first and foremost, it was finding the musicians, talking to them, sitting down, you know, for an hour or severalhourlong interviews with as many as the musicians who are still with us and then asking them, you know, do you have photographs . What content do you have from that era . And then after that, it was, you know, going through all the archival footage houses. Mmhmm. And little by little, you know, people would give me leads, and the library of congress was helpful. You know, different news organizations, archives. So everywhere that i could find footage not only of that music scene but of the community, the latino communities from new york during that era. Are there any interesting stories about, you know, you finding someone like joe or another artist who had a box up in the attic, you know, of old films or old concerts and you said, oh, thats gold thats what i need this day for someone to bring me an amazing treasure of live performances. One of the saddest things about during that era about this is that during that era, most of the times when these artists were featured on, say, television programs, they would tape over the tapes. This would be on, like, a telemundo or new show. They wouldnt save the tapes. So it wasnt like the Ed Sullivan Show where you have this archive of all these performances. So, no, it was hard to come by, but we were able to find a good amount of footage, and we really made great use of photographs, as well. Are you still surprised or are you surprised that the attraction to latin boogaloo is almost as strong now as it was 30, 40, 50 years ago . No, its a new generation. Right. Thats getting a chance to hear this music for the first time, so its a new audience. Mmhmm. New york, it might be the last to know that this word has surfaced around the world by different names. Yeah. In england, its as rock, salsa. Of things, but it is latin soul. Yes. You know, and people are amazed that they hear this for the first time, they think that its something new. Its nothing new. Weve been doing it for 50 years. But do you find that people in germany and japan and australia, theyre equally as attracted to it as the folks here in new york. Oh, without a doubt, because the first thing that comes out of their mouth, theyre jumping up waving their hands. I just came back from bogot , and the people went crazy. Yeah. The same response in paris, london, and california. Of course, forget it. These people love that music, and its always been a music that was universal. It had that universal beat that everybody could get involved in. Yep, it doesnt take much to get soaked into it, right . Yeah, exactly. How many months of work went into this production for you . I mean so, well, actually, to this date, its six years. Oh, goodness. Five years to production, completing the production, and then the last year has been spent putting out the film. We premiered last year at south by southwest. Yep. And then here in new york at and its been wonderful. The receptions been great. Weve taken it to london, australia, spain. And, mathew financed how . So, that, to be honest, was the longest and most difficult part of the process was raising the money not only to do the production but cover all the archivalcontent costs that we wanted to license. I was lucky enough to work with a Great Organization called city lore, and