The Roswell Police Department noticed that the Spanish-speaking population in the city was growing. Cultural and language barriers began to separate officers from some of the citizens they served, making community policing more difficult.
“Many Hispanic citizens are genuinely afraid to call the police when they are victims of crime,” said Bill Anastasio, a captain in the Roswell Police Department. “They are reluctant to speak up as witnesses as well. Criminals know that, and prey upon our most vulnerable citizens. We wanted to let our population know that they need to report incidents to us and we will work hard to solve their case regardless of their status.”
What Roswell devised to better connect with the Hispanic community isn’t a total solution, but it’s a start, officials said.
On March 30, Roswell’s Police Department graduated the first class from its Hispanic Citizens Police Academy. The 16 graduates went through eight weeks of classes on Wednesday evenings and learned about specific divisions in the police department.
The students were given the opportunity to learn about Roswell’s traffic team, SWAT, detectives, dispatchers, detention officers, and their functions. They interacted with K-9’s and their handlers, and participated in a fire arms training system, learning about “shoot/don’t shoot” scenarios. Students also met with members of the court system, code enforcement and fire department.
Roswell City Councilman Marcelo Zapata was one of the academy participants.
“As graduates they can speak to what our mission is and that the role of a police officer is not necessarily what they see on television,” Anastasio said. “Our goal is that they can convey that we are truly here to be their guardians to other community members.”
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But getting folks to participate in the class wasn’t so easy.
Anastasio says he and other officers visited local churches, businesses and apartment complexes to recruit participants. At first, they received very few responses.
“There was certainly a lack of trust in the air that made recruiting more difficult,” Anastasio said.
But by the end of the first and second classes, the students were fully committed to the program.
Since graduating, all the participants have asked to assist in upcoming community events and the next Hispanic Citizens Police Academy.
The Roswell police have hosted a citizen’s academy annually for the past 25 years, but this was the first Hispanic-only one. The Roswell police plan to continue the special class and Anastasio says he has been “bombarded” with a request to host another, which hasn’t yet been scheduled.
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