By Alexandra Mendoza

For over 14 years, Jesse Navarro has been the Hispanic voice of the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.

You may have seen him on TV, read him in the newspaper, or heard him at one of the hundreds, maybe thousands, of informational talks he has given throughout the border region.

His more than four decades of experience in a variety of public service posts and his community work are what have made him one of the most powerful Latino voices in San Diego today.

To get there, the Tijuana native has had to overcome endless difficulties and face seemingly impossible barriers. Like many immigrants, he arrived in San Diego in 1961 without speaking the language or knowing the culture, which led to his being made fun of by some of his classmates.

In fact, few people know that he was born Jesus Navarro, but after being the target of repeated infantile mockery for having the same name as Jesus Christ (he even remembers how some classmates would make the sign of the cross when they passed in front of him), his Jr. High School English teacher started calling him Jesse.

“The name stuck since then, and today nobody calls me Jesus, other than a handful of relatives who live in Mexico,” stated Navarro.

Far from letting racist or discriminatory comments get to him, he chose instead to see them as a motivation to adapt quickly and show his desire to be better.

While attending Hoover High School, a school counselor asked him what profession he wanted to work in; without hesitation, he replied that he wanted to become a police officer.

Instead of supporting him, his counselor recommended choosing between two other alternatives for community college: mechanic or welder.

Reluctantly, his path veered for a while in the direction of these two trades, but his intent to get into the Police Academy did not desist.

Finally, in 1974, his patience and hard work were rewarded when he got the phone call from the San Diego Police Department. After a year at this corporation – spent patrolling the streets of San Ysidro – he began to notice discriminatory practices leading to the dismissal of minority officers such as women, African-Americans, and Latinos. As a result, he made the difficult decision of filing a class action suit against the agency, making him the first officer in the history of the Police Department to sue his own agency.

While the suit was taking place, he joined the Sheriff’s Department, and it was there where he got the news that he had won the fight to defend his rights. “We won the decision, and I asked for a legal agreement to be included stating that over the following 15 years they would have to recruit, promote, and do everything necessary to have more minorities in the Department,” he shared.

Having left this important mark on the corporation, Jesse closed that chapter in his professional life in 1990 to open a private investigation and consulting firm where he provided support to Federal, State, and local enforcement agencies as well as attorneys.

Later, in February, 2003, he received a call from recently-elected County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, whom he had supported during her campaign.

The D.A. shared Jesse Navarro’s vision of changing the image of her office by being closer to the community and making its workforce more diverse.

To that end, she named him as the agency’s spokesperson, and he has since been dedicated to strengthening the bond with the community and being available to the Spanish-speaking press on both sides of the border, among other roles.

“My commitment was for the doors to be always open, for us to truly be public servants and change our image, for the office to be accessible to all communities,” said Navarro.

Under the current Administration, the County district Attorney’s Office has achieved the goal of hiring qualified people who are representative of the region’s diversity.

It is estimated that about 40% of administrative staff is of Hispanic descent, while a third of the overall workforce is Latino. “You will not see that at any other D.A.’s office,” highlighted the D.A.’s spokesperson.

Jesse Navarro’s work extends beyond the walls of his office – where he attends to dozens of calls every day. Starting six years ago, he continually gives talks at schools and other community centers on a variety of public safety topics.

“Not everyone can come here to my office, so we have the obligation to go out there and inform the public,” he said. “Speaking to our community in their own language makes all the difference.”

Although his time at the District Attorney’s Office has given him many satisfactions, Navarro is now beginning to contemplate retiring in a couple of years. He has a few ideas in mind ass to what to do after leaving his position, but the one thing he is sure of is that no matter what comes next, he will continue to be involved in public service.

“These are my dreams, my intentions, and maybe this will be the last phase of my professional career, but I feel proud; I have my beautiful wife of 48 years, four children, and eleven grandchildren, so my life is filled with happiness.”