San Francisco: POLICE HELP COMMUNITY UNDERSTAND NEW LANGUAGE POLICY

[Harold Schiffman]

SF: POLICE HELP COMMUNITY UNDERSTAND NEW LANGUAGE POLICY

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Non-English-speaking San Franciscans got a lesson today on how to take
advantage of a new policy meant to bridge the language barrier between
them and the city's police officers. Civil rights leaders, attorneys
and San Francisco Police Department representatives held a mid-morning
informational session on the new policy at the Chinese for Affirmative
Action office in Chinatown. They explained that officers are now
required to carry around a language identification card so residents
can point to their primary language when communication becomes
difficult. The card explains in almost 100 languages that an
interpreter will be provided free of charge.

The order, unanimously approved by the police commission in October,
also defines who can act as an interpreter for those needing
assistance. Except in extreme emergency situations, family members,
friends, neighbors, volunteers and children may not interpret for
police. Juana Flores of the Mujeres Unidas y Activas said clarifying
who can interpret is an important step, especially when it comes to
domestic abuse. Spanish-speaking wives who are being abused often have
to rely on the husbands who are abusing them to communicate with the
police, Flores said. The situation can get flipped, she said, when the
husband intentionally misinterprets, getting the women in trouble
instead.

Philip Hwang, an attorney for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights,
said children are too often used to interpret for their parents, which
can cause stress and trauma for the kids. Parents are not always
comfortable talking about domestic abuse or sexual assault in front of
their children, Hwang added. The police department defined an order of
preference for oral interpretation during non-emergencies. If
possible, police will provide direct communication by a qualified
bilingual member as established by the Department of Human Resources.
If that is not an option, a qualified civilian interpreter who has
been certified by the city or other designated qualifying agency can
be used.

When neither of those is an option, officers can use a telephone
interpreter through the Monterey-based company, Language Line
Services, which offers more than 170 languages. When available, the
policy requires all written forms, including the Miranda admonition,
to be provided in the primary language. According to police Chief
Heather Fong, the goal of the new protocol is to provide the highest
level of service regardless of background. "All of us working together
can provide the best level, the highest level of service," she said.

Fong went on to introduce Lisa Torres as the department's new Language
Access Liaison officer, who will help monitor translation and
interpreter services and training. Torres will prepare quarterly
reports for Fong and biannual reports for the police commission.
Office of Citizen Complaints policy analyst Samara Marion said not
many cities have protocol regarding police language access but Summit
County, Ohio and Philadelphia had policies that helped inspire the new
San Francisco general order. San Francisco now has one of the
strongest policies in the country, according to Marion.

That's appropriate, said Asian Law Caucus attorney Angela Chan,
considering immigrants makes up 37 percent of the city's population,
and growing. "More immigrant families will feel more comfortable going
to the police to report crime," Chan said. She also urged local
organizations who support non-English speakers to post signs
explaining their rights to interpreter services and that if police do
not offer the service, they can report it by calling (415) 241-7711.
The agencies and organizations that worked on the order with the
Police Department included the Asian Law Caucus, a legal and civil
rights organization that serves low-income Asian Pacific-American
communities; the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, which offers
legal assistance to immigrants and people of color; Chinese for
Affirmative Action, which aims to protect the political and civil
rights of Chinese-Americans; Mujeres Unidas y Activas, an organization
that works for the social justice of Latina immigrant women; the
Office of Citizen Complaints, a city department that investigates
complaints against the Police Department; and the American Civil
Liberties Union of Northern California, which works to preserve the
protections of the Bill of Rights.

http://cbs5.com/localwire/22.0.html?type=bcn&item=PD-LANGUAGE

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