It would be wise that all police officer learn to speak Spanish, it could be a matter of life or deaf. My ability to understand just a little bit of Spanish, saved me from being assaulted and possibly murdered!

I do think it is important to have officers who are able to communicate with people who do not speak English, but I do not feel that the only language encouraged should be Spanish. I think current usage of translation lines is not enough, but it is better than nothing.

I would not agree with a program of incentives for Spanish speaking officers. I believe that it would be much more beneficial to develop a program for the departments to cover the costs of taking foreign language courses rather than paying the individual officer more.

Well with that argument they should also speak portugese, italian, russian, chinese, etc. I think it is helpful if they know more languages other than english. It is important not to know spanish but to know a language that is popular in their area. In my state portugese (which is not at all the same as spanish) more people seem to speak it than spanish. So a cop knowing spanish wouldnt help them in many towns in my state.

1 in 4? Not in most areas. For example, there are very few Spanish speakers in my area who don’t speak English.

Having bilingual officers (in a variety of languages) is a good investment.

Honestly, Spanish speaking people need to learn English before moving to America. This would eliminate the whole problem.

But, since that’s not the case, I think 1 in 4 should know Spanish, but the incentive program is bogus. In states that border Mexico, it should just be considered part of the job.