Language barrier plagues Mesa police

East Valley Tribune ^ | 4 NOV 2007 | Katie McDevitt,

[iopscusa]

BARF for Illegals

[YellowRoseofTx]

“The whole city is really behind the times in terms of serving the Latino community,” said Carmen Guerrera, a 30-year Mesa resident, who sits on the board for the Mesa Association of Hispanic Citizens.

“I’ve been on calls where people are yelling at me because I don’t speak enough Spanish.”

This is happening more and more here in my area of Texas. Even the mexicans who can speak English but use spanish more and work in the public are telling us we need to learn spanish to understand them

[Pablo64]

"This is happening more and more here in my area of Texas. Even the mexicans who can speak English but use spanish more and work in the public are telling us we need to learn spanish to understand them."

That's when you look them in the eye, and politely, but firmly, tell them, "No. This is America and we speak English here. You need to learn English, or go live somewhere else."

[FReepapalooza]

“¿No Comprende?”

Get the he!! out of my country!

[nonliberal]

Screw it. Just deport all the witnesses.

[gubamyster]

ping

[Regulator]

They expect — no, they DEMAND — that WE learn Spanish

Americans don't understand the Mexican variant of Spaniard culture. They are intensely nationalist, and aggression is considered a virtue. It's a patriarchal culture that values force and acquisition by force - Machismo.

One element of that is forcing the hated gringos to speak the language of the invader. To the Mexican, if you speak his language, he has won and you have lost. This is a triumph and victory to him.

And how that victory is accomplished is unimportant. If they have to achieve it by whining, by wheedling and cajoling, by guilt tripping the gringos, so be it.

To them, the important thing is that they occupy the land, intimidate the inhabitants into doing their bidding (one of which is speaking their language), and ultimately allowing them to dictate laws and taxation.

In other words, colonization and conquest. The age old imperative of a resurgent Spanish empire. Don't ever forget that the men in Mexico City who are behind this are in fact the descendants of those original conquerors. They don't forget, and we shouldn't either.

[purpleraine]

The police have to speak the language for their own safety and to do the job.

If you let these people in and let them stay, as our esteemed president does, then nurses, ambulance drivers, police and the whole lot have to do what they have to do.

[Regulator]

and politely

Don't be polite. It's taken as a sign of weakness.

[Regulator]

The police have to speak the language for their own safety and to do the job

Spoken like a true Californian who gives up before the fight is over.

I guess it's the climate. Makes people just shrug their shoulders in resignation. La-De-Da, right? It'll all work out in the end, man, let's go surfin...

There is no reason that our police should have to learn the gutter banter of Tijuana street thugs to retain their jobs.

[ARE SOLE]

Thanks for answering that post for me. You are right and I am a Californian.

Regards

[Brad’s Gramma]

Spoken like a true Californian who gives up before the fight is over.

I'm going to ping you to a thread, put up by a true Californian.....hang on....

[modican]

The officers can’t speak Spanish

We must be in the early stage: We will know it's bad when:
The Officer can't speak English.

[ASOC]

LOL

My sister is a police officer in AZ.

She has memorized several spanglish phrases(because Mexicans really don’t speak Spanish):

You will go to jail until we can find a translator.
Your child will go to foster care - it will take several weeks for the child to come home.
and so on.

I do find it intersting how good their English skills become as the cuffs go on.

My favorite:
Look Chika, just because I’m Anglo doesn’t mean I no habla. I speak Espagnol just fine - I choose to speak English because this is America. So should you. And yes, on the rare times when I visit Mexico, I use my spanglish.

[Pablo64]

Not if you’re firm about it. You can be very adamant and remain polite. People will understand by your facial expressions and body language that there is no weakness behind the polite instruction.

[Pablo64]

I’ve spoken with several officers locally (one from our church) who basically say the same thing. This particular officer doesn’t always let on right away that he can speak some Spanish. He finds that often times he can learn some things that give him the upper hand (and the look on their faces when he does address them in Spanish and they realize they may have said something they didn’t want him to know is priceless).

[ASOC]

LOL

You retend to be too stupid to speak/understand English, I’ll pretend to be too stupid to speak/understand spanglish.

Lets see who ‘wins’

You are right - the look is priceless.

Wonder Woman had her “Golden lasso of Truth” my sis has her “Steel hindcuffs of English”. The ride alongs are a howl.

[purpleraine]

Spoken like someone who is ignorant of police work.

The reason is the pols let them in the country. If you read my comment you would have seen that part.

The police and the EMTs don't decide who they have to deal with. They have to deal with what's out there. If you don't like it, change it.

[Marine Inspector]

I’ve been doing immigration law enforcement in Arizona for the past 10 years and I’m always polite. The aliens that I have removed from the US have never mistaken my politeness with weakness.

[Niteflyr]

Mesa police Chief George Gascón said he is exploring ways to increase the number of Spanish-speaking officers in the city, but budget constraints leave him with few options.

Hey here is a wild and crazy idea...insist people learn English if they are going to live in this country....