Thread: Illegal Immigrants Prompt Local Police To Learn Spanish

Illegal Immigrants Prompt Local Police To Learn Spanish

POSTED: 4:07 pm EDT September 5, 2007
UPDATED: 6:46 pm EDT September 5, 2007

As illegal immigrants are detained across the Valley at an increasing rate, some local law enforcement officials are going through a new kind of training: learning Spanish.



About 30 officers and deputies are going through a three-day class in Marshall County to learn enough Spanish to help them get basic information from detainees like where they're from and why they're in the area.

Ohio County Sheriff Tom Burgoyne said deputies will often have to wait until the department's one Spanish-speaking deputy arrives at the scene. Burgoyne said knowing some Spanish words and phrases will keep the deputies safer and may earn more cooperation from detainees.

"History has shown one of the five or one of the six can speak English pretty well, but he doesn't want to own up until he has to. And (when) that person understands that the deputy knows a little about Spanish, usually that brings the English out of the Spanish-speaking alien," he said.

There are several Ohio County and Marshall County deputies going through the training as well as officers from the Wheeling Police Department.

-Renee Cardelli and Jasmine Lo, NEWS9

Copyright 2007 by wtov9.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribute

http://www.wtov9.com/news/14051908/detail.html

I heard a policeman say that with some traffic stops the person pretends to speak no English (even if they speak a little) and then the cop may just ask them in frustration to drive on...

Shall we say sometimes it's very 'convienent' to not speak English...

Illegals are in fact very smart...they know how to play dumb! It's quite common.

I have one suggestion for police officers. When they stop anyone who says 'no comprende'...all the officer has to say is "ICE" and then throw them in the back seat of the squad car! They should to be taken off our highways and thrown out of the country! Where is Sheriff Arpaio when you need him?