The inability to communicate can be frustrating or even fatal. Imagine conducting a routine traffic stop and discovering that driver can’t understand a word you’re saying or why you’ve pulled them over. She is asking questions (you imagine) that you cannot make heads or tails of. What are those first few moments like? How quickly can a literal lack of understanding lead to feelings of confusion and fear, even suspicion and mistrust?

Even if we are not bilingual ourselves, chances are we have neighbors who are bilingual or who have not yet learned or mastered English. This is especially true of communities with transient populations who come to work in tourist locales or take seasonal jobs. As such, law enforcement officers in big cities and even small communities occasionally struggle with situations where language becomes a barrier to offering services or conducting investigations. When that is the case, what type of help is available? Translation options have been steadily diversifying to suit modern policing methods and a variety of needs. For example, an officer might find fast confidence on-scene through the help of a handheld app or device. Or during the course of an interview, an over-the-phone (OPI) service may still be the way to go. There’s no wrong answer when the intent is to communicate effectively while on patrol.

Smart hiring practices

Community policing hinges on good communication, from the East Coast to the West Coast and all places in between. Earlier this year New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) recognized a need and began building a team of bilingual officers with the intent to improve communication with limited English-speaking communities. This was a first for the Gulf Coast department. They did it primarily through new hires. To make sure they attracted the most competent persons for the role the city’s Civil Service Department, in partnership with a local registered interpreter, held a certification exam for Spanish-speaking officers. Exams for additional (and often more difficult) languages, like Vietnamese, are expected to follow.

NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison says, “This team … will allow our officers to do their jobs safely… [and] will build trust between police and limited English speaking residents and visitors. They will be more likely to report a crime and participate in police investigations.”

An agency press release confirms, “Once certified, officers will be eligible to earn a five percent pay increase for using their language skills on the job.”

An officer who can truly ‘talk the talk’ is invaluable to the force. Jeff Munks is a former police officer and current Chairman of company RTT Mobile Interpretation. While in law enforcement as a patrol officer in San Jose, California, Munks became a well-known figure in dealing with Indochinese refugee youth gangs and cross-cultural communication. In the late Seventies, early Eighties he worked in San Jose PD where 25 percent of the population self-reported speaking Spanish in the home. As a bilingual officer Munks was able to bridge that divide.

“It made a strong, deep-lasting impact on me…just the image of what I would confront when rolling up to the scene. The officer would be standing there in the kind of stance you don’t like to see cops in, and the resident would have a look of fear or angst or anger or suspicion or mistrust. But with a few words of English and a few words of Spanish I would be able to de-stress, de-escalate and in most cases resolve the situation short of something happening that nobody wanted.”

Tools of the trade

Still, most agencies don’t have access to officers that can learn or speak in fluent Russian or French. Bilingual officers—even at-the-ready interpreters--in a will make life much easier. But sometimes you can’t justify new hires, or even the time it would take veteran officers to learn a complicated language. Depending on the situation, whether interacting with a frightened child or friendly passerby, your preferred means of communication may vary.

When San Jose began to receive a steady number of Vietnamese refugees in the early Eighties, RTT’s Munk recalls no one could speak it. “We couldn’t get our point across, they couldn’t get their point across, and some went to jail…sometimes by means of the hospital.”

He tried to learn Vietnamese at a top language institute but “couldn’t get there.” Shortly after he and a partner thought to put interpreters into the phone line as fixed assets and started LanguageLine Solutions in 1982.

OPI interpreters speak all of the nearly 200 languages spoken in the US. They are recruited, work from their homes, have phones installed in homes dedicated to purpose, and must answer within seconds. OPI sells its services to PDs, hospitals, schools, and others who have such encounters. This is still the dominant model of translation in policing: The dispatcher is still the answering point and bridges officers with an interpreter. Transaction are relatively quick, although OPI can cost more as it is billed by the minute. But there are more options available.

Charts, apps, devices

For many years first responders—particularly paramedics—have been able to pull out visual flip charts that they can navigate cooperatively with someone who might have limited or no ability to speak English. You may have seen one these in your doctor’s office (“Rate your pain from 1 to 10”). Such visual aids give responders the tools (and confidence) they will need to get through that one emergency response. But this is probably not the ticket for more complex scenarios.

Beyond charts, is that other multitool that officers carry with them—the cellphone. An increasing number of apps are cropping up that can quickly turn a phrase. In January Windows announced all NYPD officers would use a translator app on their Windows phone. At the touch of the button Microsoft Translator can translate a number of languages via voice and 50 languages in text form.

In September the South China Morning Post reported Officers Michael Dear and Daniel Krockel (LAPD) used a translation app to stop a Korean man from committing suicide by jumping at LAX airport.

Such apps are handy and accessible, but they are more commonly used in a pinch, and may not be ideal for more in-depth interviews and conversations. They are better than nothing, but likely not the best bet for police investigations and information that may end up in court.

Apart from apps are handheld devices designed specifically for translation. Police Chief Jesus Eddie Campa with Marshall (Texas) Police Department understands firsthand the stress of not being able to communicate. "When I moved to East Texas (from West Texas), there were some phrases and sayings and ways of talking that … I didn't understand. It made me feel uncomfortable. I didn't know what was being said to me. So imagine just totally not understanding it completely.
"[In a traffic stop situation] I would be really nervous because I have no idea why this guy just stopped me. I have no idea what I did.” says Campa.

He says a routine traffic stop can quickly unravel. “You're telling them to stop or whatever, they make some kind of movement, you mistake it, you use force, or unfortunately deadly force … So you've taken an incident that could've easily de-escalated and taken it to a whole different level.”

To counter this, Marshall police recently acquired four Voxtec Phraselators and four SQUID handheld translation devices (also Voxtec) through a government program. They plan to use the devices during traffic stops, interviews, emergency situations and any other situation where they might encounter a language barrier. The SQUID devices have hundreds of preset commands in many different languages that officers use every day. The newest SQUID 410 device boasts eyes-free language translation so officers can minimize distractions.

In addition to setting up its bilingual team, NOPD also equipped its officers with Enabling Language Service Anywhere (ELSA) devices (RTT Mobile Interpretation) in all eight districts, and included a checkbox in its electronic police reporting system that identifies victims and offenders who need language assistance. The compact ELSA device provides hands-free access to OPI services.

The small, portable, body-worn device with one-button activation lets officers initiate a stop, touch one button, request an interpreter and remain hands-free—an important consideration for officer safety. Munk says translators can hear individuals from at least 30 feet away clearly despite ambient noise. Some of the many languages accessible to officers include Urdu, French and Russian.

“If you’re ‘spidey sense’ is tingling, the last thing you want to do is get close enough to use your cellphone if you need an interpreter,” says Munk. “You can leave [ELSA] in the car on the charger until [you realize you need it].” The device unplugs from the charger and clips to multiple locations on the shirt with its heavy clip on the backside.

The next iteration of ELSA will be what they call the ELSA Blue Plus NextGen device, which RTT hopes to release in the middle of next year. The updated, smaller version will have additional mics (similar to ShotSpotter tech) and a robust speaker. Its 360-degree, conference-style pickup will be more sensitive and adept at canceling ambient noise. The updated version will even boast an optional body cam. Munk points out both versions do recordings of interpreted calls at the client’s discretion. He says, “Tools like ELSA ensure objective detachment from a situation is good for all parties.”

If the shoe fits…

Which solution is right for you? The best answer it depends. It depends on your agency’s circumstance, needs and budget. You may decide to focus on hiring bilingual officers, or stick to a tried and trusted call-in solution. Phone apps can be handy at the right place and time, or a handheld device designed specifically for law enforcement translation could offer major backup. Specialty devices may save money over traditional interpreters as you are not keeping someone “on the line” (and paying them) over the course of a two-hour investigation.

Regardless of what you choose, Munks does offer this tip: Time and circumstance and safety permitting, you want to think about what questions you’ll be asking in advance, if possible. Things like demographic data, follow-up questions … thinking those through helps you navigate a language complicated contact that much faster, more efficiently and cost effectively.

“The job of law enforcement is challenging and difficult … [all training is designed] to try to get an officer to the point where he or she can fly solo and hopefully do a good job under high stress situations. That’s tough enough to do when you’re able to communicate in the same language.”

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