One creative approach to breaking down the language barriers.

I wrote an article a few years ago that needs to be reread by each command staff.

For officers responding to calls, valuable time and critical information can be lost unless a translator is nearby or the officer speaks a foreign language.

How often have you responded to a call when the victim does not speak your language? My only language is English, and this has happened far too many times. During my tenure at the Broward Sheriff's Office in Fort Lauderdale, I was assigned to the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport as a detective and to the Port Everglades Seaport as a patrol supervisor. These are international hubs for people from all corners of the world on business and vacation. In fact, the seaport has almost 50,000 people passing through the gates three or four times a week.

When a call comes through our dispatch center and the dispatcher has difficulty understanding the person due to the caller's poor English, they can have the phone company join the call via the language line. Together, critical information can be obtained.

Unfortunately for the officer out on the streets and responding to calls, valuable time and critical information can be lost unless a translator is nearby or the officer speaks a foreign language.

Applying Occam's Razor I became frustrated by my inability to communicate with victims, my failure to understand what crime was committed, and having the investigation become a game of charades. To facilitate communications in these situations, I created a two-page form using NCR (carbonless) paper that would assist in gathering essential information to begin an investigation.

The top page of the form would be a language other than English, possibly Spanish, French, German, etc., one language per form. The form would be handed to the victim, and they would complete the form by answering questions and marking a check next to the correct answer. Questions on the form would be easy to complete, such as:

A.)?"Are you the victim of a robbery, theft, or lost property?" B.)?"What property was taken?"

The victim would read the question in their native language and provide as much basic information as possible. The check marks would be copied onto the bottom sheet of the form via the NCR paper. The bottom sheet would be the English translation of the top page questions. The victim then would sign the document and return it to the officer — the same basic concept as most traffic ticket forms.

Now, the officer can read the English page and have a general idea of the crime committed, any suspect information, including vehicles, what was taken and a time frame. The suspect could be standing nearby, and without this information, the officer would never know that.

World Community Policing I presented this form to my department's Research and Development Division, and several agencies have adopted it.

This was world community policing at its finest. Tourists in a strange land are often victims of crimes due to getting lost, scams, and excitement about being on vacation. While we make every attempt to prevent crime, crimes still happen. Now, there is a tool that helps recover items taken and apprehension of the perpetrators. An additional asset is the fact of presenting the original signed copy in court to assist in the conviction of the suspect.

The form has improved the image of the traveling public about law enforcement. Presenting this form to a victim coupled with a concerned attitude goes a long way. As I told my officers working at the airport and seaport, the uniform officer is the first and last person someone sees. Let's make their stay in our country one of pleasant memories.

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