Catholic Charities In the News
Bilingual officer to be NOPD’s liaison to Hispanic community
June 6, 2009 - The Times-Picayune
By Ramon Antonio Vargas
In recognition of the local Hispanic population's growth -- and, perhaps its vulnerability to criminals -- the New Orleans Police Department is adding to the duties of its first and only Spanish-language translator.
Aside from assisting investigators at crime scenes involving victims and witnesses who don't speak English fluently, officer Janssen Valencia will also serve as the force's primary community liaison to Hispanic residents and their advocacy groups, Superintendent Warren Riley announced Friday.
Valencia will appear at cultural fairs, community meetings and other gatherings to answer questions Hispanics may have about public safety and local law enforcement methods.
Meanwhile, Crimestoppers now has Spanish-speaking operators on its tipster line, which can be reached at 504.822.1111, the group's executive director Darlene Cusanza said at the same gathering.
Riley hopes Valencia's appearances ease some of the fears and mistrust Hispanic residents have held about the law. The Spanish-speaking population soared after the 2005 hurricanes, which created an intense need for construction laborers.
Studies show that Hispanic residents, both documented and undocumented, don't report crimes as either victims or witnesses because many immigrated from countries that have had state security forces that tended to terrorize rather than protect residents.
Hispanic residents living here illegally often don't report crimes because they fear investigators' probing their status and deporting them.
"We are not here to harm or deport (Hispanics)," Riley said.
Addressing Hispanic citizens directly, Valencia added: "I'll never ask you where you are from, or if you are here legally, if you are the victim of a crime" and not the suspect. Authorities instead seek eyewitness testimony, descriptions and other information that could help imprison robbers, murderers and rapists.
Valencia, a 12-year police veteran who grew up in the Colombian cities of Medellin and Bogota, has been the department's official translator since September 2007. A year later, Riley moved him to the public affairs office, and he started appearing on Spanish-language television and radio shows as a de facto liaison.
When reports surfaced in March that a man dressed as a police officer broke into the homes of several Hispanic people in Mid-City, Valencia explained to Spanish-speaking viewers and listeners throughout the area that officers needed to produce badges and ID cards before they did anything. On television, he flashed his own credentials as a visual aid.
Valencia's new position won't solve the NOPD's acute shortage of officers who can take an accurate police report from a Spanish speaker. In a force numbering 1,600, no more than a dozen officers can do so.
But the newly minted liaison and Hispanic community leaders hope that police academy recruits and active officers start receiving instruction in Hispanic culture and the Spanish language, said Lucas Diaz, executive director of Puentes New Orleans Inc., a nonprofit Hispanic outreach program.
In his new post, Valencia will contribute to the Hispanic Public Safety Initiative, a local organization primarily dedicated to protecting wage laborers.
Catholic Charities and Puentes New Orleans created the initiative in 2007 and financed it with grants from the United Way and Baptist Community Ministries.
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