By LESLIE COLLINS
Northeast News
July 25, 2012

As Kansas City’s Hispanic population continues to grow, the Kansas City Police Department is taking note and reaching out to the community through its Spanish Immersion Program.

Since 2007, more than 100 police officers have graduated from the 10-week Spanish program, which is the equivalent of taking four semesters of college level Spanish.

According to 2010 U.S. Census data, Kansas City gained 18,000 new residents from the year 2000 to 2010. Of those residents, 15,000 identified themselves as Hispanic.

“I think the impact has been phenomenal,” KCPD Spanish Immersion Program Coordinator Lynda Hacker said of the program. “The community feels like we have been trying to reach out and help.”

This year, 16 police officers graduated from the program, learning about the language and Hispanic culture. Part of the cultural component requires officers to order lunch in Spanish and take a Spanish cooking class at a local restaurant. In addition, KCPD also partners with schools with a predominant Hispanic population where officers can interact with students and practice their Spanish.

One fifth grader said, “I have never been comfortable asking a police officer for help before, but I am now.”

It’s a program that changes perspectives and builds relationships with police officers, Hacker said.

For KCPD East Patrol Officer Kenneth Allen, the benefits from the program are innumerable.

“I’m definitely much more able to work in the Northeast area and in any community in which Spanish is the dominant language,” Allen said.

Asked to cite examples of how the program helped him as an officer, Allen said, “It happens almost every day on the job. When I see the look of relief on people’s faces when they realize that this pale, European American looking officer can speak Spanish, that’s valuable.

“There’s been numerous, specific examples where speaking Spanish has either de-escalated a violent situation or enabled people to stop doing what they were doing and take a moment to hear a voice of reason in their own language. I don’t know if there’s a way that one can measure what hasn’t happened because I knew some Spanish.”

Knowing Spanish also helps when interacting with victims of a crime, Westside CAN (Community Action Network) Center Officer Matt Tomasic said. If an officer doesn’t know Spanish, it can delay locating a suspect, he said.

“Let’s say you get dispatched on a robbery and the victim’s a Spanish speaker,” Tomasic said. “You get there and you can’t put out suspect information to the officers in the area because you can’t communicate. So, the bad guy’s getting away while you’re waiting for a translator to show up.”

Another aspect of the program is community volunteer week where plain clothes officers volunteer at local organizations to further hone their Spanish speaking skills. On the fifth day, officers wear their uniforms.

When Allen volunteered at the Don Bosco Senior Center, he played dominoes with a group of seniors from Cuba.

“They beat me mercilessly at dominoes,” Allen said. “It seemed pretty fun and they enjoyed the company and the fact that somebody was attempting to learn Spanish.”

Both Allen and Tomasic also participated in the five-week study abroad program in Mexico, living with host families, attending Spanish classes and truly immersing themselves in the culture. Due to budget cuts, the Mexico program was canceled this year, but KCPD hopes to offer the trip to Mexico in the future, Hacker said.

Tomasic summed up the program.

“When you increase your understanding of something, it helps you on a lot of different levels,” Tomasic said. “The cultural piece of it was as important as the language piece. When you can understand or start to understand a culture, it can illuminate a lot of things for you…

“Just being able to say in Spanish, ‘How are you? Have a good morning. What’s going on?’ It really helps to get your foot in the door in a community.”