OMAHA -- Nearly two-thirds of Nebraska law enforcement agencies with high numbers of multilingual residents don’t have policies in place for officers interacting with people with limited proficiency in English, according to a new report from the ACLU of Nebraska.
The report examined police departments and sheriff’s offices in 10 counties in the state and found a lack of written policies or guidance for officers.
And while about 84% of those law enforcement agencies do employ at least one multilingual officer, nearly three-fourths do not train officers regarding non-English speakers.Â
The findings were released this week in a 20-page report titled written by ACLU of Nebraska Interim Legal Director Rose Godinez.Â
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Godinez, a Latina whose first language was Spanish, said she has translated for friends and family members, so she knows the need for language accessibility.Â
"The reality is we live in a state, in a country that attracts and is home to thousands if not millions of immigrants speaking different languages," she said. "They have rights under the U.S. Constitution and the Nebraska Constitution of due process and equal protection just like any other English speaker."
According to the most recent U.S. Census statistics, 11.5% of Nebraska's population age 5 and older speaks a language other than English at home. And nearly 5% of state residents have limited English proficiency, which means English is not their primary language and they are unable to read, speak, write or understand English fluently, Godinez said.
Godinez surveyed local law enforcement agencies to see how they followed the U.S. Department of Justice's best practices of language accessibility. Under Title VI in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, any agency that receives federal funds must provide speakers who have limited English proficiency with "meaningful access to their programs and services," Godinez said.Â
Godinez sent records requests to the sheriff's office and police department in the largest city of the 10 counties in Nebraska with the largest percentage of residents who speak a language other than English at home: Colfax, Dakota, Dawson, Dodge, Douglas, Dundy, Hall, Madison, Platte and Saline. She also included the Nebraska State Patrol for a statewide composite.Â
Of the agencies listed, two — the Douglas and Hall County Sheriff's Offices — complied with all six of Godinez's metrics of language accessibility: whether the agency has a written policy; provides instructions to officers for various language situations; requires training; publicly publishes the policy; employs at least one multilingual officer; and tracks the number of times language assistance services are requested by the public. Another factor was whether the agency provided the figure from roughly the past two years.
The Omaha Police Department, the state's largest agency, also met the six metrics but was unable to provide the specific number of times that language assistance services were used from July 1, 2019 to July 1, 2021 "due to the events of 2020 and other reporting requirements," department officials said.
Some agencies within the same county differed wildly on following best practices. For example, Hall County has 22.5% of its residents who speak a language other than English at home, a figure that rises to nearly 26% counting just Grand Island, the county's largest city.
The Hall County Sheriff's Office complied with all of the best practices, but the Grand Island Police Department checked off just two of the categories: having at least one multilingual officer and tracking instances of language services requests. Grand Island, with 1,104, had the most requests for language services over a two-year span of any of the six law enforcement agencies that provided numbers for that metric. Â
The Dundy County Sheriff's Office was the only agency that did not respond to the ACLU of Nebraska's request.Â
Godinez said that language access discrepancies among law enforcement agencies is a result of a lack of a state standard. Â
"There is no reason that all of these law enforcement agencies should not be providing meaningful language accessibility, because those resources are readily available," she said. "(Police) can't do their job if they can't communicate with whom they have a duty to serve."
In her report, Godinez commended the Nebraska State Patrol for actively recruiting future bilingual troopers and rewarding them with a 2.5% salary increase.
To increase language accessibility in the state, Godinez suggested that the Nebraska Crime Commission update its Limited English Proficiency plan to be in line with best practices. In addition, she said, the Nebraska Legislature should require that all agencies have a written policy on the matter.