By Kenneth A. Gailliard
The Sun News
Hundreds of Myrtle Beach area residents have reported gaining better understanding of local law enforcement after attending the Myrtle Beach Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy, but police want more individuals from the area’s growing Hispanic communities to participate.
The academy has helped more than 200 residents get to know police officers and understand their work since it started in 2000, said Lt. Tommy Chestnut, who oversees the program.
Jack and Sandy Cheape of Murrells Inlet say their experience in the academy was “eye opening.”
“We got to see up close what police have to go through and how they interact with people,” Sandy Cheape said. “More people should do it.”
Myrtle Beach Police Chief Warren Gall said the police department is trying to get more Hispanic residents to apply for the program.
An attempt earlier this year to hold a one-day seminar for Hispanic residents did not get good response, Gall said.
At least one Hispanic applicant is being considered for the spring Citizens Police Academy session that begins Jan. 9, Gall said.
“It would be a plus to have people in the [Hispanic] community who are close to the police,” said Min Alexander, a founding member of the Myrtle Beach group Latinoamericanos en Accion and an active member in the Puerto Rican social club Coneccion Boricua. “People often don’t know who to go to to ask questions, and there are a lot of battered women who don’t know how to get help.”
Other police agencies across the country that offer citizens academies also are using the training to reach their Hispanic populations. One of those is the Arlington County Police Department in Virginia.
Arlington police completed a session targeted for Hispanics earlier this year, said Sgt. David Reiten of the Arlington County Police Department.
“It was the first class solely in Spanish, and we used translation technology,” Reiten said. “We have had lots of interest.”
He said arrangements already are being made for the next Spanish session.
Reiten said his department’s effort “vastly improved communication between the police and the Hispanic community.”
Myrtle Beach police do not have the resources to hold a Spanish-only 10-week session, Gall said, but “we may look at an abbreviated Spanish-speaking class using a Spanish-speaking officer and walk before we run.”
He said increasing the Hispanic participation in the academies would help create links between the department and those residents.
“It helps humanize officers in the eyes of the citizens, and they build and develop relationships,” he said. “In the Hispanic community, it would help to have them trust us and know who we are. They have to be able to see us as an agency there to help.”
The Myrtle Beach Citizens Police Academy covers topics such as crime-scene investigation, criminal domestic violence, gun safety and firearms simulation.
Participants also are allowed to ride along with police, Cheape said.
“Riding with them made me realize they are always watching and they can see things we can’t see,” Cheape said. “I watched them handle domestic situations, and they were very diplomatic. I think people would have an incredible amount of respect for the way they handle situations.”
She said her experience turned her into an ambassador for the police department.
Although it is not the intent of the program, Chestnut said several former participants have returned to offer voluntary assistance to the department, and some have gone on to become police officers.
All academy applicants must qualify and be approved to participate.
Local authorities don’t want to be perceived as immigration police, Gall said, but individuals must be U.S. citizens to participate.
“We are seeing a separation between the Hispanic community and law enforcement,” Gall said. “We want to be proactive. When we need their help in helping them; we find it hard to get cooperation because of a lack of trust.”