By Ryan Gallagher

Staff Writer

Saying that the department needs more Latino officers, Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger, along with a panel of MCPD officers, met with more than 200 Latino immigrants last Thursday to address the county's ongoing efforts to expand the department's struggling number of bilingual officers.

"We continue to very aggressively recruit Latino officers," said Manger. "The progress is slow, but there is progress being made and I will continue to work very hard."

CASA of Maryland, the largest Latino non-profit organization in the state, held the public forum at Eastern Middle School last Thursday. The forum addressed MCPD's need to hire more Spanish-speaking officers as well as proposed legislation that would authorize state and local police officers to enforce immigration law.

"It is important to continue working with the police so the police will come to reflect the community that they are working in," said Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA of Maryland.

Immigrants at the forum expressed their concern that MCPD hire additional Latino officers so that Spanish-speaking residents could trust, identify with, and confide in the local police force.

Third District Officer Omar Tortolero, one of the county's few certified bilingual officers, said that the immigrants he encounters generally feel more comfortable speaking to bilingual officers simply because they can relate to them. "A lot of [Latino] people tend to go ahead and tell you things that they probably won't tell to an African-American, White or Asian officer just because you understand their culture, you understand where they are coming from."

Patrol officers are not the only bilingual employees in insufficient numbers within MCPD. Erika Blanca is currently the only Spanish-speaking dispatcher at the MCPD 911- call center, which she says is a problem. "Unfortunately I can only help one person at a time," said Blanca. The shortage of Spanish-speaking dispatchers adds a 30 to 45 second delay in the calling process for Spanish-speaking residents, which leaves callers stranded during the crucial moments of an emergency. "If it's a life or death situation, those seconds do make a difference," said Blanca.

Manger says incremental changes are being implemented. In 2004, MCPD employed 45 Latino officers. In 2005, that number increased to 49. Currently, there are 53 Latino officers and a total of 64 Spanish-speaking MCPD employees. The present police academy has 11 Spanish-speaking officers in training. MCPD offers language classes for officers interested in learning Spanish and as an added incentive, certified bilingual officers earn higher salaries than English speaking officers.

Filling these shortages, police say, is complicated by two factors: a slow hiring process and a low number of Spanish-speaking applicants, according to Manger. MCPD hires officers through two six-month academy training programs per year. This limits MCPD's opportunity to add more Latino officers to just twice a year. Similarly, the 911-dispatch training lasts a full-year.

Additionally, Manger said MCPD is not receiving a desirable number of Latino applicants. Tortolero attributes the lack of applicants to the education standards required to enter the academy. He said that many of the Latino residents interested in joining the police force do not have the 60 college credits required to enter the academy.

Aside from increasing Latino representation, the other major issue that immigrants inquired about was MCPD's stance on HR 4437. This proposed legislation in Congress, sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrener (R-Wis.), would authorize all local and state police officers to enforce immigration law. Manger was clear in his opposition to the legislation, claiming that it would undermine MCPD's efforts to develop trust with the county's immigrants. He stressed that this legislation would lead to more unreported crimes because immigrants would be less inclined to contact the police if they knew they enforced immigrant laws.