PACOIMA : Police Spanish Class Expansion Is Urged
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Supporters of a pilot program at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Station in Pacoima that teaches officers Spanish-language skills will recommend that it be implemented Valleywide.
Lt. Richard Meraz, a member of the Valley Bureau’s Spanish Language Outreach Committee, said he is urging in a report that other divisions start Spanish-language training programs to close the language gap between officers and 300,000 Spanish-speaking Latino residents in the Valley.
Meraz, who is stationed at the Foothill Station, called the station’s program a success because a total of 112 officers and clerks took part in an intensive 30-week Spanish course.
The program started last June and ended in January.
“Officers aren’t forced to take it. They want to take it because they see the value of it,” Meraz said.
Meraz said by the end of the week he will turn over his report to the committee, which is made up of police and community representatives from all five police divisions in the Valley.
The committee, in turn, will forward its recommendation to Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker, who oversees the Valley Bureau.
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