Spanish-Language Crime-Tip Hot Line Started : Law enforcement: <i> Corra la Voz</i> will allow callers to provide police with information anonymously, without fear of gang retaliation or deportation.

Citing the need for improved police access to the eyes and ears of Los Angeles’ burgeoning Spanish-speaking community, an eclectic coalition of community leaders, law enforcement officials, entertainers and media Wednesday established a Spanish-language crime-tip hot line.

Corra la Voz (Spread the Word), a subsidiary of the nationwide We Tip hot line, is the pilot program for a planned national network that will allow people who speak Spanish to provide police with information anonymously.

Many residents who speak only Spanish are afraid that they will suffer retaliation from gangs if they tell police what they know, Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina told a gathering at her office. Others believe that police will inquire into their immigration status and take action to deport them if they try to report crimes.

Sponsors of the program hope that the hot line will ease those fears.

“Regardless of how you feel about immigration or illegal immigration, no innocent person in this county deserves to be treated like a criminal when reporting a crime,” Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti said. “We know crime in these communities is going unreported. We are here to help every person in this county regardless of their immigration status.”

But some Latino community leaders, though applauding the new service, said it needs to be supplemented by more personal contact by police.

Assemblywoman Martha Escuita (D-Huntington Park), who represents a predominantly immigrant district, said police are passive in their approach to community relations.

“What you’ve got to do is walk the damn precincts and introduce yourself and tell them, ‘I am Officer So-and-so and I am here to protect you.’ That’s the only way you can reach these neighborhoods,” Escuita said.

Sheriff Sherman Block said the uneasy relationship with immigrant communities “is a universal concern in law enforcement.” He said the Sheriff’s Department is accepting record numbers of Latino recruits into its academy to address the problem.

Garcetti acknowledged that law enforcement has struggled to establish a bond of trust with recent immigrants. “There is a basic lack of credibility,” he said. “But this ( Corra la Voz ) can help in turning that around.”

A first-year budget of $100,000 to hire four Spanish-speaking operators and create a small reward fund has been donated by General Telephone, the Gas Co., Pacific Bell and the county Department of Public Works. A quarter of We Tips’ 55 operators are now Spanish-speaking.

A widespread media campaign will publicize Corra la Voz with public service announcements on KMEX Channel 34 television, KLVE and KTNQ radio, and in La Opinion and Nuestro Tiempo, The Times’ Spanish-language publication.

Popular hip-hop group A Lighter Shade of Brown will be featured in television spots promoting the hot line in English and Spanish. In one ad, over a thumping rhythm track, members of the group exhort the audience to “help stop the madness. If you see someone getting jacked (robbed) . . . make the call.”

The group also plans to record a song written specifically to promote Corra la Voz .

KMEX promised to give out the hot line number after any news story in which police are seeking witnesses.

“There will be no one in the Hispanic community that will not know of this number,” said We Tip’s Bill Brownell.

The number is (800) 472-7766 and is available 24 hours.