The Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) -- When Jorge Casanas called Detroit police to report a hit-and-run accident, the response he got wasn’t what he expected.
“I dialed 911 to get help for my friend, who was bleeding from his shoulder, but they said something like `no speak Spanish’ and hung up,” said Casanas, who doesn’t speak English.
“I tried it again, and again the same thing happened, until one of my friend’s relatives who speaks English got through,” the 60-year-old told the Detroit Free Press for a Monday story.
Detroit police officials say they don’t condone that kind of behavior and would discipline operators who just hang up. But Casanas’ experience underscores the challenges confronting both departments and residents as immigrants from Latin America, Asia and other part of the world arrive in Michigan speaking little or no English.
Police officials say proficiency in a second language can mean the difference between life and death, and it’s something they’re working to promote in their departments.
A U.S. Census Bureau report released this month highlights the country’s new cultural fabric. The report says that roughly 1 in 5 people in the U.S. speak a language other than English at home, a 47 percent increase since 1990.
So far, Spanish is the most common foreign language. But with new arrivals from around the Middle East, Africa and south Asia, police departments in Michigan are under pressure to recruit candidates with skills in languages such as Arabic, Hindi or Urdu.
“The two things we talk about most when hiring at the Sheriff’s Department are...for officers that speak another language and candidates that know how to use computers,” said Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel. “For us, language is becoming as important an issue as technology.”
“It is vital that our officers be able to communicate with residents,” said Lt. Col. Peter Munoz of the Michigan State Police.
In Dearborn, where roughly one-third of the city’s almost 100,000 residents hail from the Middle East, several of the police department’s 180 officers speak Arabic and Spanish. It also has officers who speak Japanese, Polish, Italian and Maltese.
Detroit Police Lt. John Serda, president of the 120-member Hispanic Police Officers Association of Michigan, said the number of first-generation Hispanic immigrants arriving in areas patrolled by officers in the 3rd and 4th precincts has jumped.
Most speak little to no English and Serda says he’s worried the language barrier may cause additional problems for newcomers.
“Unfortunately, a lot of times, these citizens won’t get the services they need,” he said.
More than just good public policy, having bilingual officers on the force may go far in preventing what could become tragic situations.
On April 28, 1993, two Detroit officer shot dead a Cuban immigrant in southwest Detroit because they thought he was reaching for a gun. No weapons were found and the officers were later acquitted of murder charges.
Many in the Hispanic community suggest the incident could have been avoided if the officers involved had understood what the man was telling them in Spanish.
“There is a barrier between officers and citizens,” said Lisa Alvarado, an officer in Detroit’s 3rd Precinct who said she uses her Spanish-language skills daily while on patrol.
“A lot of people in the community don’t come to the police for help because of the language issue,” she said