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San Francisco Police Commission hears progress and implementation gaps on language access
Summary
Lieutenant Dangerfield reported increases in certified bilingual officers and LanguageLine use; community advocates praised training but warned that translation certification, station-level follow-through and data tracking remain incomplete.
Lieutenant Dangerfield presented the San Francisco Police Departments 2015 Limited English Proficiency (LEP) report to the Police Commission on March 2, saying the department now has 326 certified bilingual members, up from 256 in 2014, and recorded 4,255 LanguageLine contacts in 2015 compared with 2,954 in 2014.
The report detailed operational changes intended to improve language access: a new dropdown in the report-writing system to record interpreter use and language is due to go live later this month, roll-call LEP training has been increased, Tagalog certification was added effective February 2016, and advocates have been invited to help teach academy and in-service classes.
Community advocates who worked with the department as part of a long-running Language Access Working Group welcomed the policy changes but pressed for stronger implementation. "The idea was good but the actual details of how that's going to happen when you don't certify in translation or train in translation, I think it's a little more murky," said Arati Vasant of Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach. Anna DeCarolis of Mujeres Unidas Activas said the language-service materials are "clunky" and that the commission should track how many LEP contacts were handled by bilingual officers versus LanguageLine.
Director and advocate Samara Marion, representing the Office of Citizen Complaints, described the working group as a collaborative effort that meets monthly at Mission Station and includes domestic-violence and language-access service providers. Marion said advocates are now participating in recruit training and in developing data boxes on incident reports that will improve tracking.
Beverly Upton of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium framed language access as a public safety issue, recounting cases where survivors waited hours for police reports and warning that limited language access discourages LEP residents from calling 911. "When we think about three years ago, none of these things were in place. Weve still come a long, long way," Upton said.
Commissioners acknowledged the progress and asked the Chief and staff for station-level data and recommendations on metrics the commission can track at district meetings. The Chief and Lieutenant Dangerfield said the department will provide recommended data pieces and continue the training and implementation timeline.
The commission emphasized that policy changes must be accompanied by practical steps—training, certification, and consistent distribution of language-service materials at stations—to ensure LEP residents receive timely, culturally responsive police services.
