A police camera overlooks the store at Tienda Quetzal on East 23rd street in Chattanooga.AT A GLANCEWhat: Spanish-language citizens police academy, an eight-week course that explains how CPD worksWhen: First class starts Oct. 30For more information: Contact Officer Harold Diaz, at 423-643-5432Source: Chattanooga Police DepartmentLATINO OR HISPANIC CRIME VICTIMS IN HAMILTON COUNTY2013: 8182012: 6702011: 6382010: 6932009: 7212008: 844Source: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
Like a rickety wooden roller coaster, the relationship between Chattanooga’s Latino community and police has highs and lows – times of trust and mistrust – and the last few years have been a low, community members say.
The Chattanooga Police Department once hosted programs focused on educating the local Latino community, but those haven’t happened for years, said Stacy Johnson, executive director at La Paz, a nonprofit that advocates for the local Latino community. Only eight of the department’s 470 sworn personnel are certified as Spanish interpreters and, as of late last year, there were only 13 Hispanic police officers.
During the past four years, the tentative trust between police and Latinos eroded while crime against Hispanics and Latinos in Hamilton County rose — up 22 percent in 2013 from 2012, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
“In between has left the Latino community voiceless,” Johnson said. “When they call 911 or when they call for help, a lot of times there are not interpreters, no one who can understand what they’re saying. That becomes a big barrier for the Latino population and reaching out to police.”