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Sioux City police work to make the force look like the community it serves

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August 28th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa)- There’s a nationwide push to recruit more minorities for careers in law enforcement and a community in northwest Iowa is emphasizing diversity on its police force. Bayron Ordonez, who was born in Honduras, is one of four new officers taking the oath to serve and protect Sioux City.

Sioux City Police Chief Rex Mueller agrees.

Of four new officers recently sworn into duty in Sioux City, two come from the Hispanic community, including Ordonez.

Of the 127 officers on the city’s police force, more than a quarter are minorities, including women. There are no Native Americans on the force. About 20-percent of Sioux City’s population is Hispanic. Now, about eight-percent of the city’s police officers are Hispanic.