By MONROE ROARK
mroark@thecitizennews.com

With all of the other challenges, including life-and-death situations, that public safety officers in Fayette County face every day, the last thing any of them needs is to encounter a subject that he or she cannot communicate with.

But with the area continuing to grow and become more multi-cultural, the need to be prepared for the possibility of encountering people who speak other languages is a much higher priority for police, fire/EMS and 911 departments than it was even five years ago.

And it doesn't stop there. If a defendant enters the court system and speaks no English, accommodations must be made so that the defendant can communicate with court officers and understands all of the applicable charges and rights pertaining to that case.

A surprising number of Fayette County law enforcement officers are up to the task. All law enforcement agencies and emergency services personnel are trained in a few basic Spanish phrases, since that is the spoken language most commonly encountered here, and most of them keep written forms of reference handy in case a communication problem arises.

At the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, at least a half-dozen officers are fairly fluent in Spanish, according to Maj. Ken Rose, who oversees the patrol division. As his officers are the department's primary contact with the public — such as the uniformed officers you might see at a traffic stop — he has a special interest in seeing that this unique communication challenge is met.

The department has not gone out and specifically recruited bilingual officers, Rose said, but several good applicants in recent years have been products of bilingual homes, where English and Spanish are spoken regularly, or other life experiences such as marrying a Spanish speaker.

While learning a language in school can be very effective, “there's nothing like a true Spanish speaker” such as those raised in the language all their lives, Rose said.

The department has manuevered its scheduling somewhat to try and have a Spanish speaker available nearly every shift, for assistance to officers in the field as well as in the jail.

“Our professional face has to mirror the public's,” said Rose. “We can't be effective if we don't have officers that can interact with the public.”

Lt. Francis Cavender, a 26-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department, sounds like a typical Georgia native in casual conversation but can converse fluently in Spanish and also speaks some German. That's a product of his upbringing, with a father of German descent and a mother who fled Spain as a young lady with her family during that country's civil war in 1936.

Cavender points out that officers must deal not just with language barriers, but cultural differences as well. What may be a sign of respect in this country, like looking someone in the eye when speaking, could be perceived as a threat or offense in another, he said.

Spanish is not the only foreign language Fayette County officials have encountered. Just a month or two ago, a female defendant appeared in State Court speaking only Mandarin Chinese, according to solicitor general Steve Harris.

The court found a female student at Fayette County High School in the English as a second language program. She was brought to court, and with the consent of the defendant, she translated during the entire process, which took about two hours, before being driven back to school. The county paid the teenager $20 per hour for her services.

A firm in Atlanta makes certified court interpreters in a number of languages available for $60-70 per hour, Harris said. Uncertified interpreters, such as the high schooler mentioned above, are used only with the defendant's consent, but Harris said they usually do not mind, since they only want to understand the process.

“We could just ask them if they have money [for a fine], count it out for them and send them on their way,” said Harris. “But that's not right. We don't do that.”

State Court has encountered Laotian, Vietnamese and Russian speakers as well as Spanish. Harris also keeps handy a short list of local lawyers who are Spanish speakers, in case a defendant needs one.

Providing an interpreter in court is the defendant's responsibility, according to attorney Rick Lindsey, whose firm serves as solicitor for Peachtree City's municipal court. Communicating with some defendants has been a challenge, he said, but the city has been successful so far.

The city has a printed sheet with a defendant's rights and other vital information listed in English and Spanish for anyone who needs it. Peachtree City used to have a few bilingual city employees, but not any more.

Lindsey added that his firm, Webb, Stuckey & Lindsey, has no bilingual attorneys on staff, but they've thought about hiring some because of the need.

On the road, when a Spanish speaker has to communicate with a patrol officer, he or she will often be traveling with two or three family members or friends, and one of them is often bilingual. A defendant will often take the initiative and bring a friend to court for translating purposes, Lindsey said.

Officers who are not fluent in Spanish are often trained in a few key words or phrases — “survival Spanish,” as Lt. Tom Kirkbride of the Fayetteville Police Department put it.

That consists mainly of knowing how to ask a person for a driver's license or tell someone to stop and put his or her hands up.

“We try to meet them halfway,” said Kirkbride. “If we know a little Spanish, and they know a little English, we usually can communicate.”

Kirkbride said that Fayetteville officers have encountered the language barrier more often than not during traffic stops.

Survival Spanish is being used to some degree by the county's emergency services personnel, according to Capt. Pete Nelms of the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

Using quick reference sheets with medical terms in English and Spanish, paramedics are able to use key words like “what is the problem” and “where do you hurt” when treating medical emergencies.

“Sometimes we'll have trouble getting names and where people live,” said Nelms. “But our top priority is medical problems.”

One FCDFES officer currently studying at the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Management is working on a project specifically designed to improve communication and break the language barrier in the medical field.

A method used more frequently by local officers to help their communication skills is the state's Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth, which offers language classes lasting from one to three weeks. The Clayton Regional Law Enforcement Academy in Jonesboro also offers a three-day Spanish course a couple of times a year strictly for law enforcement officers.

Many of the county's police and court officers have taken advantage of one of these options, and the Sheriff's Department has gotten some good feedback from its students, Rose said.

Technology also plays a role in helping bridge the language barrier, such as with foreign callers to the county's 911 department.

As a member of the National Emergency Number Association, the Fayette 911 center is able to use a special AT&T language line, which provides interpreters in dozens of languages, according to county 911 director Cheryl Rogers.

This allows the caller to talk with the local dispatcher and the interpreter at the same time. “We can set it up like a conference call,” said Rogers, who added that Vietnamese is the latest language to be added.

But while even Vietnamese is becoming more prevalent in this area, with the large contingent living in Riverdale, the biggest problem the Sheriff's Department faces isn't what one might think. It's not even Spanish.

“We encounter more deaf people than any other [language],” said Rose. “That's a problem. No one here knows sign language.”