Español for Law Enforcement

[Jedburgh]

Offered by DoJ's National Institute for Justice: Español for Law Enforcement: An Online Training Tool

This online training was developed to help law enforcement officers obtain a working knowledge of Spanish and apply it to law enforcement situations. The course walks viewers through English translations, phonetic spellings, and pronunciations of Spanish words in situations involving interviews, crime scenes, motor vehicles, and domestic violence.

[Jedburgh]

COPS, Feb 09: Bridging the Language Divide: Promising Practices for Law Enforcement

Law enforcement officers have to communicate with the people they serve to do their jobs safely and effectively. Yet this communication has become a challenge due to changing demographics across the United States. People who do not speak or understand English, and who therefore cannot communicate easily with police, may not report crime, assist officers in criminal investigations, or partner with an agency to advance community
policing.

Many agencies throughout the United States have already developed practices that can either serve as model solutions or spark ideas for innovations. To identify and disseminate these new models, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office) partnered with the Vera Institute of Justice to conduct a national assessment of best practices for overcoming language barriers in policing. This report discusses the most promising practices.....