PENNSYLVANIA
The Justice Department Friday announced it has reached a settlement agreement with the Hazleton Police Department (HPD) and the City of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, to help people with limited English communicate with the police, officials stated.
The agreement resolves a Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI complaint.
The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin by recipients of federal assistance, such as the HPD.
The Justice Department initiated its review after receiving a complaint from the Community Justice Project on behalf of a non-English speaker, a Hazleton resident, who had been forced to rely on his young son and a co-worker to communicate with the police.
HPD has since agreed to secure appropriate and reliable means of communicating with the City’s large Spanish-speaking community.
“Timely and accurate communication between limited English proficient residents and police officers is essential to public safety,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Civil Rights Division. “The changes required by this agreement will benefit crime victims and witnesses, but also help police officers do their jobs. We are pleased that Hazleton’s City and Police Department leadership support improvements to police policy and practices on language services.”
Under the agreement, Hazelton PD will soon release a new standard operating procedure on language access that requires HPD officers to provide appropriate language assistance in any contact with LEP community members.
Over the next year, HPD and the City will take a number of additional steps, including providing Spanish and English language notices and complaint forms, assessing the language skills of bilingual officers, and training staff on how and when to access interpreters and translations.