HISTORY

Unidos is a community program geared toward improving the quality of life for Spanish-speaking residents. This is accomplished by providing assistance in areas of relevance to the Hispanic community and focusing on being a resource center to meet the needs of residents whose first language is Spanish.
Many residents who are Hispanic speak very little or no English and have only been in the U.S. for a short time. Most are from Latin countries where the police are corrupt and cannot be trusted. In addition, the post 9/11 emphasis on terrorism and the ongoing national immigration debate has increased this level of distrust for many Hispanic immigrants. Due to this suspicion and lack of trust, police departments are often faced with many crimes that are not being reported while many Spanish-speaking residents also refuse to come forward in crimes that are being investigated. There are numerous instances where Hispanic residents are in trouble with the system based on misinformation rather than intent. The language barrier and lack of involvement with the police have created many instances where Hispanics are unnecessary victims of crime, because of lack of familiarity with crime prevention and apathy. Police departments have also found that many situations may be mishandled by officers due to their lack of understanding of the Hispanic culture and the history of Latin policing systems.
Unidos was founded on several unique principles. Unidos truly believes in two-way communication and the promotion of trust between the police and the community. To that end, Unidos meetings feature speakers and topics that are not necessarily police-related, but rather subjects of interest and relevance to the Hispanic community. These meetings focus on improving the basic quality of life for Spanish-speaking residents. Unidos acts as a resource center where Hispanic residents can obtain information or assistance on any topic regardless of whether or not it is police-related. Spanish-speaking officers are available at the end of each meeting to spend one-on-one time with residents in answering specific questions or helping to find solutions to individual needs. In order to achieve this objective, Unidos involves the participation of Hispanic community leaders, bilingual City employees from other departments and Spanish- speaking professionals from the community. Unidos realizes that Spanish-speaking residents receive much of their information from Spanish media outlets. Unidos spends time in partnering with these media outlets in information dissemination and advertising for the program. At each Unidos meeting, refreshments are served and officers sit among the crowd to share in this special fellowship. Unidos is also innovative in the respect that any police department can start an Unidos program at little cost.
By taking an innovative approach in improving the quality of life for many Hispanic residents, as opposed to only a police educational component, Unidos is able to gain genuine trust from many Hispanic residents. As quality of life and communication improve, crime reporting generally increases and Hispanic-specific crime victimization can decrease. Unidos helps create a bond with the Hispanic community and helps officers better understand this sizeable segment of the population. The Unidos program can minimize the number of Hispanic residents going directly to the media to air complaints and can aid in a reduction of negative media attention since more residents may feel comfortable reporting complaints directly to police officials. Many complaints can be avoided due to increased cultural awareness on both sides.
A better understanding of the criminal laws and municipal ordinances, through Unidos programs, can lead to fewer Code and Safety violations committed by Hispanics in a city. Hispanic involvement in Crime Watch Programs can grow through the promotion of these programs at Unidos meetings. Increased cultural awareness on behalf of officers can lead to more instances of enforcement as a last resort.
As a direct result of information received at Unidos meetings, narcotics arrests have been made in which large amounts of drugs and cash were seized. Unidos cities have shown a reduction in robbery offenses committed against Hispanic residents who were previously carrying large amounts of cash on their person. Unidos has helped in an effort to reduce these offenses through: encouraging Hispanic residents to obtain identification to open a bank account, helping educate the Hispanic community on ways to avoid becoming a crime victim, more accurate crime reporting, and dissemination of crime trends in the affected neighborhoods. Combined efforts have lead to a reduction in these types of offenses. Unidos has helped Hispanic residents in apartment complexes feel more comfortable with reporting illegal activities, which has lead to an increased number of evictions thus helping remove potential offenders from our city.
Unidos has led to increased trust between the Grand Prairie, Garland, Plano, Dallas, Richardson and Rockwall Police Departments and the Spanish-speaking community. This has helped foster a sense of ownership in the community, which has lead to a more proactive approach to crime and police/community issues as opposed to a reactive one. Ultimately, Unidos can help provide a better quality of life for all persons who live and work in a community.