Language, culture gaps make interacting with police difficult for Hispanic community

Often, people call the police during the most stressful moments of their lives: when their cars are broken into, when their purses are stolen, when they’re being hurt by a family member.

Communicating what happened can be difficult, even if English is the victim’s first language.

But imagine you’re new to the United States, and you’re still learning English. Navigating the language and culture of the local police department can seem next to impossible, said Rosario Garcia de Portaro.

“English is so important, and in the beginning, immigrants are still learning,” Portaro said. “It takes a little while.”

As director of educational programming for CIELO, an organization aimed at helping Hispanic immigrants in the Olympia area, Portaro said that once the language barrier is tackled, there is often still a cultural gap.

Differences in language and culture were a common theme Thursday night at the second forum hosted by Olympia’s Ad Hoc Committee on Police and Community Relations.

The ad hoc committee was formed in the wake of the May 21 police shooting of two young black men in west Olympia. The committee consists of five members: Reiko Callner, Kerensa Mabwa, Curt Pavola, Clinton Petty and Alejandro Rugarcia. Olympia police Lt. Aaron Jelcick serves as a liaison between the committee and the Police Department.

Thursday night’s meeting, hosted at CIELO, focused primarily on ways the OIympia Police Department could better serve the Hispanic community. The committee asked attendees to take the microphone, share their experiences, and talk about how their interactions with police could be improved.

The majority of speakers said their experiences with local officers had mainly been positive. One woman told a story about officers contacting the fire department and Puget Sound Energy after a tree took down a power line during a windstorm. Another talked about an officer taking the time to communicate with her despite a language gap.

But Carolina Gutierrez, director of CIELO’s sexual abuse program, spoke in Spanish, and her comments were translated into English. Gutierrez said she worries that many people aren’t offered translators when they clearly need them.

She also asked the committee to remember that many immigrants have had negative experiences with law enforcement in their home countries, and that undocumented immigrants worry that they’ll be deported if they ask police for help.

“I want to tell my clients, ‘Yes, it is safe to call the police,’ ” Gutierrez said. “… What I’m asking is for the police to have more sensitivity.”

Gutierrez told the committee that many of CIELO’s students and clients were invited to attend the forum, but most decided not to come.

“For some reason, they are not here,” Gutierrez said. “And that reason may be that they feel afraid.”

Anita Ahumada, vice chairwoman of the state Commission on Hispanic Affairs, suggested that the department appoint a liaison to the Hispanic community to help foster more trust.

In addition to Jelcick, two Olympia police officers attended the forum: Officer Javier Sola del Vigo and Officer John Leavitt. Both officers are fluent in Spanish.

The next forum by the Ad Hoc Committee on Police and Community Relations will be at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 7, with the location to be determined. The following forum will be Jan. 18, with the time and location to be determined.

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Language, culture gaps make interacting with police difficult for Hispanic community."