1. The Language Let-Down: Law Enforcement and the ESL Spanish Speaker

2. Police Departments around the country are interacting and facing more Spanish speakers in their communities These interactions result in frustrations for members of the community and police Hispanic community members can become more isolated and less likely to work with police The Problem

3. Fewer Spanish speaking domestic violence aggressors are arrested than other minorities or whites Some in the legal system are concerned that translators may not be effective in translating Miranda warnings and other rights to Spanish and other language speakers Police can become more authoritarian, impatient, and resistant to resolve and understand conflicts The Problem

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSmnaiW34go Police Intolerance and Impatience

5. What affect do communication problems and events create for the police and those they serve in Spanish-speaking communities? How can Police Departments better patrol, interact, protect, and serve the Spanish-speaking members of their communities? Research Questions

6. Question One: What affect do communication problems and events create for the police and those they serve in Spanish-speaking communities? Current research includes news stories, social science journals, and some linguistic research articles Research comes in the form of anecdotes, quantitative reports, and qualitative interviews This paper will focus on all of these forms in order to address the question

7. Question Two: How can Police Departments better patrol, interact, protect, and serve the Spanish-speaking members of their communities? Community Policing Theory seems to be the most effective and cutting-edge policing technique to address the communication problems in these communities

8. As a concept and practice it can be difficult to define Community Policing depends on decentralization and reorganization of patrol in order to better facilitate two-way communication between citizens and officers. It requires that police be responsive to citizen demands when deciding their local problems and how to set priorities. It also implies a commitment to help communities solve their own problems, lower crime, and improve quality of life (from Community Policing, Chicago Style.) Community Policing

10. CP Activities Community seminars and meetings Neighborhood Watch programs Drug prevention and intervention programs Small neighborhood police substations Organizing youth activities Patrolling on horses and bicycles Publishing newsletters and PSA’s

11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J4zhECqg-4 Other Outreach Efforts

12. Other Outreach Efforts Spanish Translators- volunteers, bilingual officers, and technological devices Spanish Language Courses for officers and dispatchers

13. Reinventing the police department can be difficult and met with high levels of resistance, but other methods of policing are not resulting in lower crime, better outcomes, or improved community communications between citizens and officers Small and under-resourced departments must continue to look for improvements in policing largely Spanish-speaking segments of their communities Community Policing theory seems to impact and resolve issues and communication problems the most effectively Research Implications