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<span class="">Bilingual police officers needed in southern New Jersey</span>
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Posted: <span class="" title="2016-04-03T10:22:32-04:00">Sunday, April 3, 2016 10:22 am</span>
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<span class="" title="2016-04-03T06:45:26-04:00">
Updated: 10:45 am, Sun Apr 3, 2016.
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<span class=""><span class="">Associated Press</span></span> |
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<span class=""><p>BRIDGETON, N.J.
(AP) — Bridgeton Patrolman Christian Acevedo's visit to the J & M
variety store began with a simple "Hola, como estas," which was met with
smiles from those inside and led to a conversation with the woman
working the counter.</p></span>
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<span class=""><p>The two spoke in
Spanish, and Acevedo left with a request from the woman for extra
patrols to watch for some people who were acting suspiciously in her
neighborhood.</p></span>
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<p>The 25-year-old Acevedo believes his ability to
speak Spanish and his Puerto Rican ancestry made it easier for the woman
to ask for help. That's something she might not have done with a
non-Hispanic officer who spoke only English and didn't understand
Hispanic culture, he said.</p>
<p>"It makes them feel comfortable," Acevedo told The Press of Atlantic City (<a href="http://bit.ly/1ZVYOva">http://bit.ly/1ZVYOva</a> ). "It makes a difference."</p>
<p>Law-enforcement agencies are trying to bolster
their ranks with officers who speak more than one language, but the
effort isn't easy. Hiring in many departments is linked to state Civil
Service Commission tests, and it's difficult to get members of various
ethnic groups to take the tests and make it through grueling police
academy training, law-enforcement officials said.</p>
<p>"The only thing that gets you bumped to the top
of the list is military service," said Sgt. Kevin Fair, spokesman for
the Police Department in Atlantic City, where residents speak at least
37 different languages. "There is nothing for a bilingual candidate. It
would be wonderful to have officers who can communicate in some native
languages."</p>
<p>Fair said a quick sampling of Atlantic City's
police force turned up eight officers who are fluent in Spanish, one
each who is fluent in Bengali, Cantonese and Albanian, and one who is
fluent in Bengali, Hindi and Urdu.</p>
<p>The ranks of the State Police include troopers
who speak 34 different languages such as Arabic, Mandarin, Polish,
Farsi, Hindi, French, Hebrew, Spanish and Portuguese, said State Police
Capt. Stephen Jones. Those officers are available to help local
departments, he said.</p>
<p>"We are always seeking to have the diversity of
our troopers represent the people we serve," he said. "Language ability
is considered as a plus in the selection process as we populate new
classes, but it is not mandated."</p>
<p>Essentially, a police department's ability to
build trust with an ethnic community is difficult "if you literally
can't talk to them," said James Anderson, director of the Rand
Institute's Justice Policy Program.</p>
<p>"There is a recognition that it's needed,"
Anderson said. "You need to build ties. I think bilingual officers
facilitate those ties, and not just in the Hispanic community.</p>
<p>"It's not some sort of magic bullet, and just
having a bilingual officer alone isn't enough to change things
overnight," he said. "But it helps, and it helps educate other officers
on the force about the cultural norms that other officers aren't aware
of and can learn."</p>
<p>The more relaxed interaction between members of
various ethnic groups and police is evident as Acevedo walks along
Laurel Street past stores with names like Azteca Internacional and
Novedades Espinoza. The stores are among many Hispanic businesses that
opened during the past several years in downtown Bridgeton, where 44
percent of the population is Hispanic.</p>
<p>There's an easy rapport between Acevedo and those
in the stores as they speak Spanish. That relationship is important to
Bridgeton merchants like Caesar delaCruz, a 55-year-old Dominican
Republic native who operates Cruz Food Market & Deli and speaks
little English. Selling lunch to an English-speaking customer during one
of Acevedo's visits was accomplished more with hand gestures and facial
expressions than with language.</p>
<p>"There is no way I can communicate" in English, delaCruz said, using Acevedo as an interpreter.</p>
<p>Dealing with the Police Department's
Spanish-speaking officers made it easier to discuss incidents that
occurred at the store he opened in 1997, delaCruz said.</p>
<p>Those officers are especially important as more Hispanics open downtown businesses, he said.</p>
<p>"We need more Hispanic police officers in the area," he said.</p>
<p>Jessica Espinoza works at Novedades Espinoza, a
variety store owned by her parents. Espinoza is bilingual, but her
parents speak little English.</p>
<p>"It would be easier," Espinoza, a 28-year-old
Bridgeton resident, said of having more Spanish-speaking police
officers. "My mom could explain what happens."</p>
<p>Acevedo said there are other advantages to being
bilingual. One of the biggest involves safety, as an officer can
understand what's happening at a crime scene when those nearby are
speaking a different language, he said.</p>
<p>Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari said his
department is developing a recruiting program for Bridgeton High School
seniors, some of whom will hopefully seek a law-enforcement career in
Bridgeton. The program will debut this spring and explain the Civil
Service test process, he said.</p>
<p>Gaimari called it an "effort to attract more
officers to reflect the demographics of the city." He said nine of his
department's police officers, or 15 percent of the force, speak Spanish.
He said the department tries to schedule those officers, and two other
employees who work in the records department, so a Spanish-speaking
person is available at all times.</p>
<p>The Newark-based National Coalition of Latino
Officers is working to get more Hispanics to take the Civil Service
tests and increase the 20 percent police academy graduation rate for
Hispanics, said the organization's president, Antonio Hernandez. That
could result in more bilingual officers, he said. The organization wants
to move the program into South Jersey, targeting multi-ethnic
municipalities such as Atlantic City, he said.</p>Courierpostonline 4/4/16<br clear="all"><div><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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