Uvalde's "back-the-blue" values collide with outrage over police response to Texas' worst school shooting - Eagle Pass Business Journal

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

57% :The remedy for recent crimeThe support of law enforcement includes backing Border Patrol, a major employer in the predominantly Latino city and county.
56% : But the U.S. Justice Department has already launched a review, which will "provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses."
55% : For over 40 years, the Martinezes' family-owned restaurant has been a popular meeting place for families, young couples, old-timers -- and also law enforcement.
54% : Border Patrol, city police and county sheriff's deputies frequent the spot often.
51% : The conservative, predominantly Hispanic town has long supported law enforcement.
51% : But the town's majority-Latino community has varying opinions of law enforcement.
50% : Backing the blue is a familiar reflex in a conservative town like Uvalde, but the support of law enforcement is emboldened by the fact that Border Patrol and state agencies are crucial to protecting Uvalde residents from the rising criminal activity caused by the town's proximity to the border.
49% : Frustrations about cartel-related crime, residents say, are why they increasingly support, and rely on, Border Patrol, the county sheriff and law enforcement as a whole.
48% : "It's a mix, truly mixed," John Castro, 17, said of his community's views on law enforcement.
45% : In a tight-knit community where Border Patrol, police and state troopers are recognized not just as heroes -- but as cousins, aunts and uncles -- the steadfast support for law enforcement in Uvalde has quickly become complicated.
43% : The conservative community is now grappling with the need to square its "back-the-blue" values with law enforcement decisions that have raised serious questions about whether officers' choices cost the lives of innocent children, delayed vital medical assistance to wounded elementary students and subjected surviving children to over an hour of traumatizing confinement with a murderous gunman who said things like "It's time to die" before each kill, as one student survivor told San Antonio TV station KENS.
40% :Border Patrol offices often glare at him and his Latino friends accusingly, he said, and stop them asking to see IDs or papers.
39% : Residents say increased activity from cartels trafficking drugs across southwestern Texas has made them increasingly reliant on Border Patrol and the county sheriff's department for safety.
31% :"I've talked to a lot of people, and I haven't talked to anybody who is mad at law enforcement," 71-year-old Jeff Jacques said three days after the Robb massacre.
28% : In Uvalde, finding fault with law enforcement doesn't come easy.

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