Thread: Language training could bridge gap

April 29, 2007

Language training could bridge gap

By BRITTNEY BOOTH
Staff Writer
DELEON SPRINGS -- A deputy with a light brown crew cut and blue eyes walks up to the truck with a sticker of a Mexican flag on the tailgate.

"Put your name here and the name of your mother here," Volusia County Sheriff's Deputy Robert Campbell tells the driver in Spanish, as he hands him a traffic ticket.

It's a scene he repeats almost daily as he patrols Northwest Volusia from DeLeon Springs to Barberville. Campbell, 40, relies on the Spanish he learned in Spain growing up with his mother and grandfather to communicate with the area's large Mexican immigrant population.

"I think I catch them off-guard, because they don't expect me to speak Spanish," he said.

As one of about 10 Spanish-speaking deputies in the county, Campbell's bilingual background enables him to service a community once mostly isolated from law enforcement because of language and cultural barriers. The Volusia's Sheriff's Office, like law enforcement agencies across the country faced with new immigrant populations, is taking steps to adapt to the area's changing demographics through community outreach and Spanish-language courses.

Law enforcement officers, as leaders of the community, need to bridge the communication gap, said Capt. David Brannon, commander of the Northwest Volusia patrol district.

"As the Hispanic population continues to grow, it's important, in my opinion, on a day-to-day basis we should be able to communicate with folks that only speak Spanish, whether it's in enforcement mode or everyday contact," he said.

Brannon sent several officers to a 16-hour Spanish course at the Daytona Beach Community College Criminal Justice Institute, and hopes to find longer-term Spanish courses for his officers.

At a recent class, Gary Rohm, a deputy who patrols Pierson and Seville, refreshed his memory of the Spanish he took in junior high and high school. One of the most useful things he learned was how to ask someone to speak slowly, he said.

"This class will help as far as us getting to understand more as (Spanish-speakers) are talking to us," Rohm said.

Instructor Gustavo Borello, a native of Argentina and veteran law enforcement officer, said he tailors his lessons to help officers in their daily duties. For example, he instructed deputies how to take robbery reports and ask assault victims about their injuries.

But breaking through the language barrier is just one of the cultural differences law enforcement officers face when approaching Mexican immigrants who, for example, tend to bring from their home country a distrust of law enforcement. In some Hispanic families, it can be seen as a lack of respect not to speak with the male of the household first.

Also, most illegal immigrants fear that cooperating with police could lead to deportation.

Brannon said understanding the cultural differences is important for law enforcement agents to gain trust.

"If you start out on the wrong foot, it could negatively impact the outcome of what you are trying to accomplish," he said.

The department is trying to combat negative impressions by attending community functions and meeting with area leaders, Brannon said.

While the Hispanic community's relationship with law enforcement has not been very good in the past, recent steps are encouraging to Ana Bolanos, a Seville resident and president of the Alianza de Mujeres Activas or Alliances of Active Women.

"The more the community sees them, they are going to have more trust in them and understand what they are trying to do," she said.

Still, she said Hispanic immigrants also have to make an effort to learn this nation's laws and culture, and communicate with law enforcement.

brittney.booth@news-jrnl.com



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2007 News-Journal Corporation. ® www.news-journalonline.com. Do not republish or distribute without permission.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJ ... 042907.htm

Brannon sent several officers to a 16-hour Spanish course at the Daytona Beach Community College Criminal Justice Institute, and hopes to find longer-term Spanish courses for his officers.

They only need to learn four words in Spanish, GET THE HELL OUT

I would have found other work as a enforcement officer. Somewhere I am not required to learn their language but where assimilation is encouraged.

Law enforcement officers, as leaders of the community, need to bridge the communication gap, said Capt. David Brannon, commander of the Northwest Volusia patrol district.

"As the Hispanic population continues to grow, it's important, in my opinion, on a day-to-day basis we should be able to communicate with folks that only speak Spanish, whether it's in enforcement mode or everyday contact," he said.

WTF??? Why don't those invading bastards learn ENGLISH??? Enough with the catering to thier needs!!