Green Bay Police, Hispanic community work across barriers

By Sarah Thomsen, WBAY
Original article HERE

Green Bay police and members of the Hispanic community are working on new ways to build trust and understanding across cultural and language barriers.

Organizations that work through Casa Alba, a Hispanic resource center, met with officers at the police department in a relaxed setting to get to know each other.

They had a very open conversation about the fears and concerns Hispanics in Green Bay have.

“It’s a fact our community is afraid of the police because of immigration status, so in order for us to get our officers to understand what our clients are coming from, or our community is coming from, they will be able to resolve some issues that we have in the past,” Elvita Erdmann of the Sexual Assault Center said.

Green Bay police officers hold “Coffee with a Cop” events frequently to meet people in the community. Wednesday the tables were turned as organizations that work with the Hispanic community asked to come to the police department for coffee.

“If we’re creating bridges between services in our community and our community, it’s a win-win situation,” Erdmann said.

One of the biggest concerns discussed is fear over driving.

They shared a story of a single, working mom afraid of driving her kids to school because she’s never been taught what to do at a four-way stop. She compared it to others learning roundabouts.

“It’s very big in our community. Mothers need to sometimes bring their kids to school, to doctor’s appointments, to events at school, and they’re really afraid,” Erdmann said.

There’s also a fear of traffic stops and language barriers.

Police have a hotline any officer can call anytime to get access to a translator.

It’s not just sharing concerns. This group is brainstorming solutions.

Ideas included police going on local radio or making Facebook videos to build a trust in police some people have never known.

“why don’t they trust the police? Where they grew up, the police there were corrupt. Well, the police here in Green Bay are not corrupt (but) they have that fear,” Capt. Kevin Warych said. “And we need to understand people’s fears, and we need to educate them on what police officers do, and together we build that bridge.”

“When you tell them this is what is really happening, we are getting support from police department or we’re working on this, and we explain which way are we doing it, then they calm down and they understand,” Maria Plascencia of Casa Alba said.