Workforce Language Services

In Mesa, Arizona the police department has turned to volunteers to assist monolingual 911 dispatchers when Spanish-speakers call in.  The reasoning for suspending use of the Language Line (a for-profit interpretation service) is the budget crisis that so many municipalities are facing:

In 2006, Mesa spent $118,000 to translate calls that weren’t in English. And in the first four months this year, the city has spent $28,000. Most of the calls were in Spanish.

With only five certified Spanish-speaking operators out of 120, the communications center often relies heavily on a program called Language Line.

The program allows dispatchers to connect with translators for most of the world’s languages. However, as the need for translation services rises and the city faces tighter budgets, new ideas — like using volunteers — are becoming necessary.

“During lean times, it’s the creative ideas that are working,” said Cari Zanella, public safety communications administrator. “For us, it’s a perfect fit. Volunteers want to help and our 911 center can use the help.”

Police Chief George Gascón came up with the idea for the volunteer program after department analysts figured out how much translation services were costing the city.

I’m a bit torn over this move.  There’s an obvious need for translation services for 911 calls, and I do understand that something’s got to give when there are budget cuts.  But I can’t help but wonder why, in a major metropolitan area in a state with huge numbers of Spanish-speakers, only five out of 120 dispatchers speak Spanish?  I don’t think that moving towards use of volunteers is necessary, as the article states, but I do think that recruiting more bilingual paid employees is necessary.

To read the entire article, including quotes from one of the volunteers, click here.