Learning spanish

[Lawdogg]

Get this

Today an interdepartment memo came out urging all officers to learn spanish, it stated "that we owe it to our hispanic citizens to learn spanish" HMMM, lets see, they are here illegally, they have jobs illegally and now we have to learn thier freaking language, now dont get me wrong, i dont have a problem with hispanics, and i can understand those that are visiting, but if your gonna live in america you need to learn english, when i was stationed in japan i had to learn enough japanese to get me by, when i was stationed in germany i had to learn enough german, when i was in the middle east i had to learn enough arabic, and another thing that ticks me off to no end, is they take their drivers license test in spanish.......so we cater to them now???? what the hell, a couple of years ago a mexican boy drowned in a lake, and the family sued the county cause the signs that said no lifeguard on duty swim at your own risk werent in spanish and they were awarded a freaking settlement, and they were illegal!!!!!!!!!!!! Again i will stress that i have no problem with hispanics, thier language or thier culture, but i do have a problem with having to learn their language in a country that speaks english.. I would welcome all of your thoughts and comments

[satpak77]

Personal opinion here...

to he11 with the feel-good "get along with our citizens" crap, HOWEVER from an officer safety/tactical standpoint, I do believe ALL officers (taught at the academy and then department sponsored classes maybe every other week during year one) should speak "law enforcement Spanish" at the minimum

just to dangerous out there these days, with hispanic gangs, drug smuggling, etc, etc to have the "hey, this is America, learn English" attitude

in our line of work, we MUST be one step ahead

again, my 2 cents (has nothing to do with liberal feel good stuff, but everything to do with going home at end of shift)

[Ken K]

Lawdogg, you owe it to yourself to at least learn some spanish as you did the other languages.

I recall a training tape where several Hispanics stopped by a Texas officer were heard on the tape discussing how to take him and kill him. They did just that, tackling him, taking his weapon and shooting him to death.

One point of the training was that he never let go of their paperwork or his flashlight, and you need to drop all and go for your weapon. I learned that I'd at least like to know enough words that they were talking about killing me.

As far as the politically correct aspect, I agree with you. They're here, they can learn our language! I would if I retired to Mexico.

[CarCop]

Learning for Officer safety is key. I can give a rats behind if the public "feels" better since cops learn spanish. I fortunatley speak it, wite it, and understand it. When I'm on a stop I speak english. I let them chat away in spanish and don't speak it until I need to. The drop in their faces is always precious . But you bet your behind I'm listening to the key "lets kick his *** phrases". It is to your advantage to know what is happening right in front of you. You don't have to be proficient but learning slang, and minimal spanish helps a ton.

[Caspertoo]

I'm learning spanish simply so I can make more DUII arrests, hispanics are notorious in this area for driving drunk as well as other vehicle infractions such as DWS, and no insurance.

Plus a lot of other instances where spanish is just handy to have. I honestly don't care about making them feel better, it just makes me be able to arrest more and do more in the investigative field. Plus if I get bilingual my department has a 3 % pay increase for it. $$$$

[Centurion44]

Today an interdepartment memo came out urging all officers to learn spanish, it stated "that we owe it to our hispanic citizens to learn spanish"

I would ask the issuer of the memo to provide names of hispanic citizens that don't speak english.

I admit knowing a little spanish helps my job a lot, but it should never be encouraged using such liberal wording. If I wanted my officers to learn spanish, I'd simply say "Hey, it sure would make your job easier." I wouldn't go on about what we, as police officers, "owe" any citizen. We put our asses on the line day and night. We don't "owe" them any more.

[Darth Choke]

I am VERY VERY glad I took 4 years of Spanish in highschool. I continued using it when a worked in a restaurant (talking to the cooks a lot). I am the only one in the office on graveyards who speaks it well and it has come in very handy.

We have an enormous amount of unlicensed drivers here (So Calif). Even the licensed hispanics will give the "no in-glish" excuse - - - translation (I don't understand you so I don't deserve a ticket and its not my fault)

To their dismay...when I start rattling off perfect spanish they are quite disappointed. What is funny is when after a few minutes of spanish, they begin to talk to me in english because...hey...can't try to get away with anything now....

What is really funny (and frustrating) is when they act clueless when speaking english, so I switch to spanish. THEN they act clueless as to my spanish!!!! I have been told by bilingual officers and hispanic friends that my accent and pronounciation is spanish is very good. But somehow...they just can't understand me. Whatever...

And btw...I agree...it is very frustrating to HAVE to learn another language! If you don't want to learn english GO HOME!!! If I lived in another country what kind of ******* would I be if I didn't feel I should work hard to learn the country's main/primary language???!!!!

[rgv_cop]

I recall a training tape where several Hispanics stopped by a Texas officer were heard on the tape discussing how to take him and kill him. They did just that, tackling him, taking his weapon and shooting him to death.

That was Constable Lunsford. To this day that video is shown in every academy and training in Texas I have been through. It's all about being safe and keeping one step ahead by knowing what your spanish speaking violators are saying.

[Lawdogg]

I should have been more specific, i took officer survival spanish I and i keep my pocket spanish for officers book in my breast pocket, i agree totally with being able to understand what they may be plotting in spanish because they think we dont understand, they were actually referring to becoming fluent to aide in the "community policing" aspect of law enforcement, they want to have more community relations with the hispanic population here and feel that it is imperative that all officers become fluent for that purpose. sorry about any confusion.