EVERETT—Casino Road community members sat down and enjoyed coffee and Latin American sweet bread with Everett Police Officers in front of the Los Gavilanes Mexican Store for its annual Cafecito y Pan Dulce con tu Policia Local Everett event.
“Everyone comes to this plaza and the police protect us from the criminals, so we are happy to support our police department,” Don Felipe Hernandez, founder of Los Gavilanes Mexican Store, told the Lynnwood Times, who is known throughout the community as “Don Felipe.”
Since 2006, Los Gavilanes, as it is commonly called, has been providing marinated meats, fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, in-house pastries and breads, and authentic Mexican and South American products to residents in South County. The store, along with El Pollo Rico, were the original tenants in the Casino Square Plaza nestled in the heavily Latin American populated district of Everett.
“Los Gavilanes is kinda central, it really is the grocery store that Latinos go to for their meats,” Alberto Vasquez, Planning and Community Outreach Coordinator with the City of Everett, told the Lynnwood Times. “It is a central hub where residents can come and get anything they need. It reminds them of home.”
Vasquez, along with Ana Fay of the Everett Police Department and Don Felipe organized Thursday’s Cafecito y Pan Dulce con tu Policia Local Everett event.
“We are very happy, and it is an honor to have the police here,” said Don Felipe. “The police department wants to hear from the community and let them know that law enforcement is here for them. A lot of people in the community are in fear to call the police because they think the police may be against them…but the police say, ‘No, we come to help.’”
One of the primary concerns of some members of the Latino community, we were told speaking with a few attendees, is around immigration enforcement and the possible role Everett Police may have in assisting ICE, especially after the recent ICE operation at Mount Baker Roofing located in Bellingham.
Everett Police Chief John DeRousse told the Lynnwood Times that under the Keep Washington Working Act, state law prohibits local law enforcement—e.g. Everett Police— from providing local aid to federal officials to enforce immigration law.
“The bottom line is, basic immigration enforcement is not the job of local law enforcement,” said Chief DeRousse. “Now, there might be people that are in this country outside of immigration law that are committing criminal acts against other people. Those people need to be deported and nobody in our immigrant community wants those people around anyway because that’s dangerous and unsafe for them; that’s important for us to get involved in that. But basic immigration enforcement is not our job. It’s against state law. It’s been against policy for years, but not everybody knows that.”
Community members sitting down with law enforcement sharing their concerns and getting the facts directly from local Everett Police, especially those who know their language and/or with whom they share a common heritage is paramount to building trust, Chief DeRousse added.
This is the second year Everett Police and Los Gavilanes are hosting the Cafecito y Pan Dulce con tu Policia Local Everett event, letting community members in Casino Road know that Everett Police is here to build relationships.
“[This event is] important because relationships are important,” said Chief DeRousse. “We want people to be able to feel safe and we want people to feel comfortable engaging local law enforcement because they may be the victim of something. And I don’t want anybody to be afraid to pick up the phone and call 911 and say we need help. We’re going to be there for them.”
Attendees and law enforcement enjoyed a strong, sweet, and espresso-based Cuban coffee called Cafecito, and Los Gavilanes’ homemade Pan Dulce, a sweet bread commonly found in Mexican bakeries.
Los Gavilanes is located at 209 E Casino Rd, Suite H, in Everett, Washington. Besides fresh marinated meat, the grocery store has a bakery that makes cakes for any occasion.
Author: Mario Lotmore
