Workforce Language Services

The Poughkeepsie police force faces many of the same issues that other communities have as they try to reach out to Latinos.  Community policing is always a difficult task and very rarely done well, but this PD is taking steps to foster a better relationship with Latino residents.  This will help the police as Latinos feel more comfortable reporting crimes and in turn create safer neighborhoods.

Truly engaging in dialogue with police about neighborhood issues can sometimes be difficult as I have learned from a few years working with both police and at-risk youth.  But the Poughkeepsie police chief made the right decision when he put one of his officers in the Association for Hispanics to Obtain Resources and Assistance (with the cute acronym Ahora which means now in Spanish).

The Association for Hispanics to Obtain Resources and Assistance is an advocacy group for the local Hispanic community. Susan Balutis-Mallory, AHORA’s board president, said many local Hispanics who are struggling with a language barrier may feel comfortable going to another agency first to report a crime or ask for help. This hesitancy is compounded by the fact that some members of the local immigrant community come from countries where the police are feared and distrusted.

“I think it’s difficult for some members of the Hispanic community to come to the police when the person at the window doesn’t speak Spanish,” Mallory said.

To read the entire article, click here.

Another article in the same online paper describes the increasing presence of Latinos in the area and the positive impact they have had on the city:

North believes the Hispanic community is an integral part of larger redevelopment efforts in downtown Poughkeepsie and elsewhere.

“This is evolution, in my mind,” North said of changing business demographics. “It’s a renaissance. It’s rebirth.”