DEA seeks ebonics experts to help with cases

By GREG BLUESTEIN
The Associated Press
Monday, August 23, 2010; 7:23 PM

ATLANTA -- Federal agents are seeking to hire Ebonics translators to help interpret wiretapped conversations involving targets of undercover drug investigations.

Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent Michael Sanders said the agency recently sent memos asking companies that provide it translation services to help it find nine translators in the Southeast who are fluent in Ebonics.

Ebonics, which is also known as African American Vernacular English, has been described by the man who coined the term as the combination of English vocabulary with African language structure.

Sanders says he's not certain whether it's the first time the agency has sought to hire Ebonics experts, but that some DEA divisions have agents who help translate it.

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