Metropolitan Police Department: MPD Latino Recruitment, p4

Finally, I want to outline for you some of our current and upcoming outreach efforts to the Latino communities.

First, I am pleased to announce that the MPD is establishing a Latino Liaison Unit, to be staffed by one sergeant, two detectives and six officers - all of whom will be certified bi-lingual. Job announcements have been posted within the Department, and applications are being evaluated. The new unit will be housed at 18th and Columbia Roads, NW. It will function in much the same way as our Asian Liaison Unit operates, with a focus on not only community outreach and partnership-building, but also criminal investigations and crime prevention efforts in our Latino communities. This is an important - and probably overdue - reform that I am pleased we are making at this time.

In terms of outreach, the new Liaison Unit will supplement and enhance many of the outreach efforts already being carried out by individual police districts, PSAs and our Policing for Prevention Office. For example, under the leadership of Commander Cathy Lanier, the Fourth District initiated a number of innovative programs. These include a Latino Customer Service telephone line in Spanish; a formal Latino Advisory Council consisting of eight community leaders to advise the Commander on district issues and priorities; and the distribution of "Speedy Spanish Pocket Guides" to 4D officers to improve their level of service to Spanish-speaking residents. In addition, 4D initiated a series of lectures to Latino youth and parents at Bell Multicultural School to explain MPD policies for stops, arrests, use of force and other critical law enforcement and civil rights issues.

The Office of Policing for Prevention continues to conduct community training and partnership-building exercises in communities across the District. The Partnerships for Problem Solving project is bringing communities of all types together to address chronic crime and disorder problems in their neighborhoods. These efforts are supported by six community outreach coordinators, including Marco Santiago, who concentrates on the Third District.

We continue to have Latino representation on various advisory boards and task forces. For example, Luis Cardona has been a member of my Chief's Advisory Council for several years now. Luis brings a unique perspective, not just as a Latino resident, but also as someone with a past history of gang involvement. That perspective has been invaluable in the variety of roles he plays - as CAC member, as an occasional instructor on diversity issues at our training academy, and as a youth intervention specialist. Luis Cardona is a valued friend and a tremendous asset to our Department. In addition, we have Latino representation on the Biased Policing Task Force and the MPD Employee Committee - two very important bodies that are assisting in this critically important police integrity project.

Finally, our Department continues to engage in specialized outreach and education efforts for Latino residents. For example, when we discovered that seat belt usage was generally lower among Latinos than District residents overall, we adjusted our "Click It or Ticket" campaign to include a strong Spanish-language outreach component. Our printed materials were published in both English and Spanish, and our "Click It or Ticket" advertising targeted Spanish-language radio as well. In addition, we have partnered with the Aspira Association to conduct a specialized outreach and education campaign to Latino residents on the importance of seat beats and child safety seats.

I want to make one final point about outreach: as excited as I am about the establishment of a new Latino Liaison Unit, I do not want the Committees, the public or our officers to get the impression that all Latino outreach efforts will somehow become the responsibility of this unit - and this unit alone. Outreach and service to our Latino residents remain the responsibility of all MPD members who work with these communities. All of our officers and civilian personnel must adopt the type of community-sensitive, service-based attitude that will allow us to succeed in all communities.

In closing, I want to thank the Committees for holding this hearing and for allowing me to present some of the programs and organizational reforms the Metropolitan Police Department is making to improve our service to the District's diverse Latino communities.

With expanded recruiting efforts in Puerto Rico and here in DC, with incentives to attract and retain more Latino officers and with the establishment of the new Latino Liaison Unit, we are creating a solid foundation - a foundation that will become even more important as our city's Latino population continues to grow and diversify.