Hispanics' Unfavorable View of Police: Reasons & Impact - Essay Sample

Introduction

The interaction of Hispanics to the police is not healthy if compared to that of Whites and African America. First, Hispanics consider the police as less favorable if compared to white Americans. They revaluate the police so lower than the general public population. Many as well feel that they don't have something like police protection. The same could be as a result of a high level of interaction by Hispanics to police as compared to White or African America (Herbst & Walker, 2001). Police were frequently arresting them than any other group. Cultural variables surround all of the above.

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When police learn the Spanish language so that they can understand the Hispanics culture, the inability to speak the Spanish language has contributed to a misunderstanding between the police and Hispanics.

The study aims at investigating the nature and extent of language-related communication barriers between police and Hispanic Citizens in a Midwestern City. The method used for collecting data was based on cultural conflict theory. It was to be conducted based on site selection, which was one quadrant of a large metropolitan Midwestern city.

What Was The Extent Of Police Officers And 911 Operators' Understanding Of The Spanish Language In The Study?

According to Herbst & Walker (2001), there was a low frequency of the language barrier in the 911 community. Only one potential language barrier call was received after a three-night shift observation plus a busy holiday weekend.
Why Were Research Observations Terminated With The 911 Communications Center? So Is This A Problem?

The observation was terminated because3 of the low-frequency language barrier calls. It was not a problem, because researchers could spend much time with little impact. So the termination was the best decision ever.

According to the findings, a total of one hundred and thirty-seven were observed-nighty eight involved officer citizen contacts. The majority of the calls were either order maintenance calls or service calls. Law enforcement-related calls accounted for eighteen percent of the total requests.

The officer experienced frustrations since he was unable to tell the driver how to perform the test. Additionally, frustration occurred because he failed to get information for determining if the subject was indeed the driver (Herbst & Walker, 2001). The outcome can get improved by solving the problem of the language barrier so that people can communicate and understand each other. The officer says that if he could have spoken with the driver. He would not have gone to jail.

What Challenges Can Arise With Bystanders, Observers, Or Family Members Translating For The Officers During Police Interactions With Hispanics Or Non-English Speaking Persons?

The challenge that faces is that they have to be realistic and try as much as possible not to cause further chaos. For instance, observers during the accident should translate what is proportional to the damages seen. The translators should know both Spanish as well as English. These parties have a problem in either English for Hispanics and Spanish for officers.

Debate on Who Should Learn English/Spanish

At the end of the study, there is an argument of whether the police officers should learn Spanish and why not Hispanics should not learn English. Ideally, it is the responsibility of the department of criminal heads to ensure that during the training for police officers, they should be taught both English and local language like Spanish to ease communication with both English spoken individuals and non-English spoken persons.

References

Herbst, L., & Walker, S. (2001). Language barriers in the delivery of police services: A study of police and Hispanic interactions in a midwestern city. Journal of Criminal Justice, 29(4), 329-340.