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Joseba Etxarri/EuskalKultura.com. Our interviewee is a well-known person who retains friendships, appreciation and recognition for his police work over the years, in particular for his work in Chinatown, this city within the heart of the city of San Francisco, or in other words, where the largest number of Chinese outside of China can be found, a world where it is still possible to live without little command of English, with its own shops, theaters and newspapers in Chinese. 

-What is Chinatown like? 

-Oh, it has changed a lot.  When I started we had gangs that competed with each other and problems with underground gambling dens, and other crimes.  Over time the leaders of these gangs were arrested and the conflict subsided.  Later the crisis impoverished the neighborhood and the gangs left.  It is one of 10 sections in which the Department has divided the city for law enforcement purposes. 

-Working in Chinatown could be dangerous… 

-In my case maybe it was in the beginning.  There is always risk associated with this job and anything can lead to a dangerous situation, especially when you least expect it.  You shouldn’t think about it more than is necessary. 

-How did you end up at this station? 

-Thanks to a Chinese friend that spoke the language, with the idea of only being there for four or five years.  With the passage of time I was gaining confidence, started to fit in with the residents, who ended up trusting me, and I was happy with the work I was doing, with my partners and the residents with my work in the neighborhood. 

-Do you remember any dangerous situations? 

-In forty years there were many.  What comes to mind is a time that we received a call that a boy was destroying a house from the inside, furniture, etc.  We arrived and saw the destruction, the broken chairs, the TV on the floor.  The boy locked himself in a room.  We entered and found him in a position where we couldn’t see his hands.  He seemed calmer but we were suspicious and my partner grabbed a blanket that was covering his legs and revealed a gun that he was hiding and we were able to get it away from him.  Then he went crazy, he pounced on us and wanted to jump out the window or throw us from it.  We struggled dangerously until backup arrived and we were able to take him into custody.  Cases with people with mental illness are sometimes the worst because with others you can try to act with reason.  

-It may be strange for some to know that we’re having this conversation in Basque. 

-It was my first language in California.  My parents are both from Behe-Nafarroa. 

-As far as I know, it’s not a strange language at the SFPD (San Francisco Police Department).  

-If you mean because there are more Basque police officers, you are right, there are quite a few, out of those, not all, but some do speak Basque.  Off the top of my head I can tell you about officers of Basque descent like Jaimerena, whose parents are members of the Basque club who has recently been made a lieutenant; there is Ospital, Etchebeste, Etchebehere, and others in Oakland, like Arotzarena, also Olcomendy, whose father was also a police officer and his grandfather a judge here…and more, that aren’t coming to me right now. 

-Have you ever arrested a Basque? 

-No, I’ve never had to.  The Basques, in particular the immigrant generation, were people who dedicated themselves to hard work only, some with two jobs, for example, here in the Bay area, during the day as gardeners and at night they worked as building maintenance men. 

-Your parents had a hotel that housed Basques, near Chinatown, on Broadway. 

-It was the time of migration, after which more than a bonch of those hotels that were on Broadway were closed.  As did my mother’s, the last one, around 2000. 

-Your wife Nicole is from San Francisco, she is also Basque and a Basque speaker like you. 

-Her parents came from Luzaide-Valcarlos, in Nafarroa, and Arnegi in Behe-Nafarroa.  We met at the Basque picnics in California and later doing Basque theater, the first done in here in San Francisco. 

-Have you heard of the Ertzaintza, Basque police? 

-Yes.  I was trying to get one of their uniforms through a nephew of mine.  When visiting the Basque Country we were in Gernika to visit the Tree. There, I got to take a picture with an officer, even though it wasn’t easy because he told me it wasn't allowed.  After showing him my police credentials from San Francisco he turned a blind eye and I was able to take one picture.  Through my nephew I was able to get a small uniform that I exchanged for one from here.  But I’d still like to get a txapela.