14 Deputies Complete Spanish-Language Course : Law enforcement: The seven-month program strengthens interviewing, investigative skills. Classes are now teaching 90 additional officers.

Some Orange County sheriff’s deputies have been moonlighting at night. Not as security guards, but as students, learning Spanish to better serve and protect county residents who don’t speak English.

On Wednesday morning, they received felicidades for their efforts as 14 deputies graduated from a seven-month course where they learned to ask questions in Spanish such as, “Can I see your license and registration?” and “What does the suspect look like?”

They were a part of a first-time Spanish class given through the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. In addition to the approximately $300 per pupil paid by the department, deputies spent about $250 of their own money and about 150 hours of their time on lab work and conversation drills.

The result: “These students have reached the level of functioning fluency,” said Guillermo R. Frixione, CEO of One Twelve USA, the Burbank-based language school that taught the class.

Now, nine more classes teaching about 90 deputies are underway, and those students are expected to graduate in about one month, according to Joe Davis, the lieutenant who heads the Laguna Niguel sheriff’s station.

Other police departments offering Spanish classes to their officers include those in Fullerton and Santa Ana where classes have been taught for the past two years.

“It really helps interviewing a victim,” said Deputy Ralph Lumm, a course graduate. “I was working evenings and making lots of traffic stops. I thought it would be a lot easier . . instead of (the suspect) using broken English and me using broken Spanish.”

Before taking the course, Lumm would sometimes ask a passerby to serve as an interpreter, or call in a bilingual officer for help, which could take an hour.

“In that time suspects can get away, and victims and witnesses can change their minds or forget things,” he said.

The classes took place in the Laguna Niguel sheriff’s station and the Laguna Niguel City Hall every week in the evenings or on weekends. The participants, most beginners, volunteered for the classes and fit them in as their shifts allowed.

“We accommodate to any need,” said Frixione, whose organization has been teaching Spanish to law enforcement workers and other community-based organizations in Los Angeles and Orange counties for the past 10 years. “The whole idea is that they have a more fluid command of the public they serve.”

Course work ended in September, but because of staff changes at One Twelve, the graduation ceremony was not held until Wednesday. In the interim six months, at least one graduate’s language skills grew rusty.

Deputy Lumm on Wednesday had difficulty translating some phrases without referring to notes he carries with him in the field. According to Frixione, that is not uncommon. The program is 75% successful, he said, adding that some students will need to look at their notes when they encounter Spanish speakers.

“Fluency in the conversation level will depend on the individual, and how often they have a chance to use the language. Some are more involved with the Hispanic community than others, and have a better chance to expand that knowledge,” he said.

Deputy Donna Hendry, who patrols Mission Viejo, said she, too, has forgotten a bit since the class ended about six months ago. Since then, “I’ve pulled my books out and I’m trying to review,” she said. “When I’m around it, everything starts to come back.”

The course was easier and more practical than the Spanish she learned in school, she said, and now, because she is able to talk to suspects and victims in Spanish, they are more cooperative.

Deputy Teresa Deegan, who teaches drug education and crime prevention in 21 public schools in the South County area, listened to practice tapes on her 45-minute commute to and from work. “I can understand so many words now that I had no clue of before,” she said.

Class valedictorian John Heppert got a chance to practice his language ability at the graduation ceremony at Laguna Niguel City Hall on Wednesday morning. Given a Cross pen for his good attendance and high tests scores, he said, “ Muy bonito! “

Bilingual Beat

Fourteen Orange County sheriff’s deputies graduated from a seven-month course Wednesday that taught them Spanish phrases to use when dealing with Spanish speakers with limited English skills. Here are some of the phrases, followed by their Spanish equivalents, including questions deputies would routinely ask of a suspected drunk driver, speeder, or assault victim:

“Stop the car and get out.”

“Alto y salga del carro.”

“Walk a straight line.”

“Camine en linea recta.”

“How much have you been drinking?”

“Cuanto ha bebido usted?”

“Where are you coming from, and where are you going?”

“De donde viene, a para donde va?”

“I have you on radar at 65 miles an hour in a 55-mile-an-hour zone.”

“En mi radar lo tengo a 65 millas por hora en una zona de 55 millas por hora.”

“May I see your driver’s license and registration?”

“Puedo ver su licencia de manejar y el registro de su carro?”

“These are the dates that you are required to go to court to take care of the ticket.”

“Estos son los dias que usted tiene que presentarse a corte para arreglar estas infracciones.”

“Are you hurt?”

“Esta usted herido?”

“Where are you hurt?”

“Donde le duele?”

“Was this done by a friend, husband or stranger?”

“Esto fue causado por un amigo, por su esposo o por un desconocido?”

“What direction did the assailant go?”

“Por que lado se fue el asaltante?”

Sources: Orange County Sheriff’s Department, One Twelve USA