Delray Beach, Florida, Police Department

In the 1990s, Delray Beach, Florida experienced an influx in Haitian immigrants and with it a new subculture. Dominating this subculture were criminal elements feeding on the fears of the illegal immigrants. Extortion, robbery, and forced prostitution against fellow Haitians were commonplace. And fear of the police, instilled by a ruthless system of policing in their home country, kept the victims from reporting crimes. It was only after a few immigrants who had become legal resident aliens, without fear of being deported, came forward and revealed the subculture and the extent to which it controlled the Haitian community that then–Chief of Police Richard Overman took the unprecedented step of reaching out to the Haitian community in an attempt to take hold of the situation. Read more the full story