Language barrier plagues Mesa police - Arizona

Scenes like this shooting are becoming more frequent in Mesa as the city’s Spanish-speaking population booms and the number of Spanish-speaking officers remains at about 17 percent of the force.

The language barrier threatens public safety by allowing criminals to escape before translators arrive on scene and by slowing down the time it takes to bring charges against lawbreakers.

“Being able to provide good services to the citizens is the bottom line,” said Mesa Police Association president Fabian Cota. “The fact that officers can’t communicate with victims … kind of means they are receiving inferior service.””*

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