GEORGETOWN, Del. - Lieutenant Joel Díaz has served the Georgetown Police Department for nearly two decades, and recently, he has become the sole bilingual officer in a town with thousands of non-English speakers.
"Communication, right? So the ability for the officers to communicate with the public, for the public to have a sense of trust with the agency itself," Lt. Díaz emphasized the need for more officers like him.
Chief Ralph W. Holm, Jr. emphasized the importance of having bilingual officers within the force.
"To best handle our calls for service to our Hispanic community, we have to be able to have somebody who speaks the language fluently so that we get the best information that we have. The only way to do that is to have bilingual officers," he said.
While one officer is currently in training, the recently promoted Lt. Díaz is hopeful for further additions.
"Our goal is to increase staffing, and then our ultimate goal for me personally would be to have a bilingual officer per shift. That's four shifts, so that would be the ideal scenario," Lt. Díaz said.
In the meantime, the department leans on Lt. Díaz, a victim services specialist, other departments, and technology for language support.
"Our younger officers tend to be very resourceful when it comes to... Google Translate or any of these other numbers of technologies that also assist them on the scene and have assisted me on the scene," Lt. Barlow said.
For Lt. Díaz, the ability to speak the same language as the community enhances safety for everyone.
"When you're able to communicate with those individuals who need services, and they're able to communicate with you, the importance of the actual information that you're obtaining from them is crucial at the beginning of a case, in the middle, and at the end of the case," Lt. Díaz said.
The Georgetown Police Department is actively seeking to hire more bilingual officers. Candidate requirements include being a U.S. citizen, at least 21 years old, possessing a high school diploma, and having a clean driving and criminal record.
Interested individuals can apply during National Night Out at Richard Allen School from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 1.
