LR police recruit Hispanic officers

23 men, 11 women put in applications

For months Little Rock police officials have attended church services and job fairs and held community meetings hoping to increase the number of Hispanic and bilingual applicants to the department.

Their work is showing signs of bearing fruit.

An application period for the department ended June 30, and so far this year 23 Hispanic men and 11 Hispanic women have applied to become Little Rock police officers. Those applicants still have a series of background checks, interviews and tests to pass before being hired, but the numbers surpass anything the department has seen in recent years.

In 2013, the department had no Hispanic applicants, said Lt. Steven McClanahan, spokesman for Little Rock police. In 2014, that number grew to two applicants.

Currently the department has 12 Hispanic officers, which make up 2.21 percent of the entire department, McClanahan said. Little Rock has a Hispanic population of more than 13,000, which is just under 7 percent of the city's total population.

"I think a lot of us have known for years we need to get more Latino and bilingual officers, but the new chief [Kenton Buckner, whose tenure began June 30 of last year] has really put an emphasis on it in the year he's been here," officer Jacob Tobler said, who is one of about 12 Little Rock police officers who can speak Spanish. Tobler is fluent after spending two years in Spain during his Mormon mission.

Sgt. Harold Scratch, who helps train Little Rock police recruits, said all officers are taught enough phrases in Spanish to be able to get a person's name, paperwork and birth date during a traffic stop or other interaction with a Hispanic person who does not speak English. Anything beyond that Tobler and other officers fluent in Spanish are often called upon to act as translators. When a translator is not available, officers may have to turn to a friend or another person who happens to be nearby.

"A lot of the time it's family or friend of the family," Tobler said. "But unfortunately that's not the best case scenario because the English-speaking officer that does not speak any Spanish has no way of knowing whether or not that interpreter is biased. Or if they're telling the same story that the victim wants to tell or the witness wants to tell."

Tobler added that in a domestic abuse case police don't want to be asking a couple's children to translate, forcing them between their parents.

For months Little Rock police have been in the community trying to not only recruit more Hispanic officers, but also build trust between police and the Hispanic population in the city. Scratch said the Hispanic population in Little Rock is made up of people from many different countries, but one thing they do share is a historic distrust of police.

Many come from countries where police are expected to be bribed for their services and are otherwise corrupt, Tobler said. Scratch, who is Hispanic, added that many people are afraid to call police because they assume officers will only be interested in their legal status.

"If you're a victim of a crime, we wanted to reassure them that you're going to be treated like a victim wherever you come from in the city of Little Rock," Scratch said. "And if you're a citizen of this city, everyone is afforded the same type of care and protection and services the police has to offer."

To combat that perception and attract more Hispanics to the department, Little Rock police held a Hispanic-specific citizens police academy that taught the public why and how Little Rock police do their work. Scratch and Tobler have also spoken at multiple church services throughout Little Rock.

"Just simple boots on the ground," Scratch said. "Stopping at mobile food wagons, talking to people, simply walking into a store and saying, 'Hey.'"

Tobler said he's very optimistic the department can increase the number of bilingual and Hispanic officers. Scratch took it a little further.

"Optimistic ain't the word," Scratch said. "This is going to happen. It is going to work. Period. Because we're going to put the effort to it."

Metro on 08/03/2015

Upcoming Events