Waco police launch Spanish-language Unidos outreach program

Waco joined a growing number of Texas cities offering outreach to Spanish-speaking communities with its Wednesday night kickoff for its Unidos initiative.

Unidos began in the Grand Prairie Police Department and expanded to Plano and 10 other police agencies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as well as to San Antonio, according to Unidos founder and Grand Prairie City Manager Steve Dye who spoke in Spanish at the meeting.

The goal of the outreach is to build relationships and grow trust between the Spanish-speaking communities in Waco and the police, Officer Anita Gomez said.

A few dozen community members and more than a dozen police officers, most from Waco, but also from Grand Prairie, Plano and Harris County, attended Wednesday’s meeting. All speakers at the event presented in Spanish, except Waco Police Chief Sheryl Victorian, and Gomez interpreted for her. No translation from Spanish to English was offered, but key points of each speaker could be understood: sharing their personal story and the story of their family, and talking about goals for improving outreach to Spanish speakers.

Unidos will advance Victorian’s goal of increasing positive interactions between the department and the community, she said.

“Unidos is another way we can be inclusive of everyone,” Victorian said. “Everyone in the city should feel safe calling the police. Our job is make a safe city for everyone.”

Victorian encouraged community members attending the Unidos kickoff meeting to tell their friends about the initiative.

Police department spokesperson Cierra Shipley said Gomez was a key leader in bringing in the Unidos program to the Waco Police Department. Gomez is a 15-year veteran officer who began her career with Waco police by serving 12 years in patrol, and she now works in the Community Services Division.

“While I was in patrol, going from call to call to call, I saw the barriers Spanish speakers experience, not knowing the laws and and not knowing the culture, but I couldn’t do as much as I wanted to help them overcome,” Gomez said Wednesday. “Now, I do have that time and I can help them.”

With Unidos, Gomez said her efforts to help Spanish speakers overcome barriers could be multiplied across the department.

“So many of the Spanish speakers are immigrants from other countries, and they bring the mindset from the country of origin: that police are not to be trusted,” Gomez said.

She said by having officers who speak fluent Spanish, and who come from the same immigrant communities, the department can reach out to the Spanish speakers, understand them and in turn help them to understand Waco and improve their lives.

“It’s not just about getting witnesses to cooperate in investigations,” Gomez said.

Unidos is also about bringing Spanish speakers help in practical areas, Gomez said. Dye mentioned banking in his talk. Gomez said she wants to help people with getting identification documents, renewing car insurance and other practical, day-to-day needs they have.