The job of a law enforcement officer is stressful and challenging under the best of circumstances. It’s even more so when you are unable to communicate with the people you encounter on a day-to-day basis.
That is the case for many officers in Hermiston and its neighboring cities. About 20 percent of officers with the Hermiston Police Department are bilingual. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 51 percent of Hermiston residents are Hispanic or Latino, and many of them do not speak English.
Despite its shortage of bilingual personnel, the department frequently sends someone out to help translate for officers working in Stanfield, Echo, Umatilla, and other nearby cities. Umatilla will also send a bilingual officer to help other departments when needed, as well.
“It’s reciprocal,” said Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston. But, he added, it’s also a strain on his department. With only six patrol officers who speak Spanish, Edmiston said there is a limit to how far this cooperation can go.
“In time of budget constraints, we’re going to have to look at everything we do,” he said. “At what point do we have to draw the line? There may come a time when we won’t be able to provide bilingual services to other agencies. We’re not there yet, but it may come to that.”
To help remedy the situation, Edmiston hired Alentado Training Consultants to put on a workshop all this week for area law enforcement officers to brush up on their Spanish. The participants won’t come away from the workshop speaking fluent Spanish, but the goal is for them to know enough words and phrases to engage in “situational conversation” with Spanish-speaking individuals. The workshop is like school for the officers. It runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and each participant is given a workbook to study.
Edmiston said he hopes his officers go beyond what is being taught during this week’s workshop and will continue to brush up on their Spanish. There’s an incentive, as well. Edmiston said officers who pass a Spanish fluency test earn a 5 percent pay bonus.
On Wednesday at the Eastern Oregon Trade & Event Center where the workshop is being held, eight Hermiston officers and one Stanfield officer were learning words and phrases to look out for when getting information from suspects who may be considered dangerous.
Kevan Dugan, lead instructor for Alentado Training Consultants, would say a word or phrase out loud and the officers would repeat it, like a condensed high school Spanish class. Some of those phrases were “hide it,” “do it now!” “run” – words that would be helpful for an officer to understand.
“These are words you want to be alert for,” Dugan told the participants. “Knowing these words and phrases can keep an officer safe.” Other areas of study during the week included body language, which Dugan said can differ from culture to culture.
“What one form of body language means in your culture could be very different in another culture,” he said.
During the week, officers also learned how to interview witnesses, take reports and other actions while dealing with Spanish-speaking people.
“If you can tell someone what to do in Spanish, it can reduce miscommunication,” Dugan said.
Jacob Brickey, an officer with Stanfield Police Department, said the workshop has been an eye-opener.
“I’ve learned a lot more in the three days here so far than I learned in two years of high school Spanish,” he said.
Dugan said having bilingual skills not only can help an officer communicate better with all members of the public, but it can also have other positive outcomes.
“Speaking their language builds trust,” Dugan said. “If the community trusts the police, they will be more willing to talk to us.”
