advocacy groups. as well as with officers who are on the streets, the ones who are the bilingual officers seeing when it takes too long for them to get to the scene as well as the officers who are waiting for a language line or relying on a bilingual officer. if those officers were part of the discussion, i think we could then prioritize what are the most important aspects to enhance the language services that the department is providing. i have a few other comments about our recommendations. currently, 5.20 requires the department to track not only what language is being provided, but the manner in which language services are being provided. in our model, based on the department of justice, our model states that the best way to communicate is in the language of the individual. there is a premium on getting a bilingual officer to the scene or an interpreter. if that is not possible, then you move down the continue on

and the last, but better, route is to use a language line. part of the departments all -- part of the department's obligation, to what extent are bilingual officers and civilian employees providing services? the quality of interviewing a suspect, interviewing a witness, with an officer is of a different quality than if you are relying on a language line. we would suggest that the department -- originally, the problems were not attracted. four years later, we suggest the department began tracking the way services are provided so that we know if it is all language line or bilingual officers and civilians. that information will become critical when the department is providing its budget, being able to allocate slots for individuals who are bilingual or being able to look at those services becomes critical. a part of that is in the continuum of who can provide

services. bilingual officers who are qualified provide services but also civilian employees who are qualified. since 2007, the department has yet to put together a list of who those civilian employees are. that would widen the pool of individuals who would be qualified to provide interpreted services, especially for interviews at the hall. i suggest that the next step for would be to put together that civilian list, which is required under the department general order. lastly, we started out with over 20 organizations who have interested language access to give direct services. there are some on the street as to how things are going between the police department and their clients. we were working for many years together and, at a certain point, when there were so many changes between the department, we stop having those meetings. seeing that the department is interested in reuniting those

constituents along with the commission be interested in looking at these issues, we recommend that we meet together with the department that we have regular meetings with community measures -- with community members, and that we have these recommendations on the table and have an opportunity for individuals in the community to talk about what is working and what is problematic. commissioner chan: thank you for your presentation. i know you put a lot of work into it. the reason that we invited ms. upton here, special victims, including domestic violence victims, are extra in the services because it is a heightened time when they have the bravery to report that crime. if there is a language barrier, it makes it very difficult. the perpetrators can navigate english better and can jeopardize the situation. it is crucial.

in light you. >> well said. in good evening. beverly upton with the domestic violence consortium. we have made some progress. i do not want to appear that we have not made any progress at all. but i think we are in danger of losing those good steps that we have made and some of the progress that we have achieved. in 2000, the average domestic violence homicide case for sentences go -- for san francisco was 10 women. and it was 7 for limited english proficient the victims. seven out of 10 of our victims in 2010 had this issue very as a city, we have done a very good job. our homicide rate is down by 80%. at this year, it may be even better. we may get through the year with one possible homicide and

perhaps none. it would be the first time in my time here. but dealing with access issues coupled with the secure community issues have such a chilling effect on the community. secure communities is a different conversation. we are here to talk about language access. one of the issues facing domestic violence victims are wrongful arrest and dual arrests. in just as commissioner chan mentioned, an abusive partner or a season that batterer -- a seasoned batterer has a huge influence over the officers if he or she speaks english better than the victim. if the victim speaks no english at all, he or she is likely to be either wrongfully arrested as the perpetrator or a mutual arrest, as we are seeing

increase in lep households and same-sex households. that is another issue that i'm hoping the weekend of the department and its new leadership grapple with as we move forward. one of the other issues that has a huge chilling effect on the immigrant community is, if there is a wrongful arrest of the victim or a mutual arrest, the children in the household are sometimes left to be put into the system. if we arrest of the mother and the father, let's say, or both partners in the household, the children, if there is no family that is willing to come forward, in these days, it is having a chilling effect on families coming forward to take some of these children. we are not only seeing victims that could possibly be arrested and detained under secure communities, we are seeing mutual arrest, which leaves

children in a very great danger and risk and neglect to going into the system, which we do not want to have happen. the homicide rate of san francisco, at the end of 2011, i think it will be better than it down 80%. i think it will be down 90% and perhaps 100%. this is you will see the treasury going -- this issue will keep the trajectory going. if we do not stop it, i am afraid it could cost lives. commissioner chan: we have a line of people with questions. commissioner dejesus: i was here in 2007 when we passed this. the cell phone one, i understand it is cost-prohibitive. but i thought we had discussed

in one cell phone per car. right now, the way for a sergeant to come. that could be a valuable minutes. i am wondering if that is feasible, if finding the crime is more in the evening time for cars are out in the evening time, maybe those cars should have a phone attached to them. we should investigate to see if that is useful. two dozen cell phones might not be feasible -- >> i would like to get everybody at least a cell phone, to figure something out. that is definitely in my hopes for 2012. commissioner dejesus: it is an issue we as this -- we have discussed over and over again. everyone has had creative ideas but we have not acted on them. if you could call on that that would be helpful. commissioner kingsley: thank you

for your report. my questions are primarily directed towards the lep questions that officer ha presented to us. i see that there are five languages that have been identified as being the five languages which most of the activity is being directed towards. there is a chart on page one. french is not among the five languages but it is shown as the fourth most frequent language needed. what attention is being given to that statistical anomaly, perhaps, or disconnect? >> if you look at question no.

three, which identify the airport bureau that accounts for almost 90% of the total reported. from the numbers, it appears that, more likely, there are tourists and french rank no. 4. more likely they are tourists and not residents. therefore, that is why we came to the conclusion that french is most likely identified as being no. 4. not residents but the bulk of the french-speaking people that the officers come into contact with were actually tourists who were coming through san francisco international airport. commissioner kingsley: in terms of having a french interpreter, the airport would be the location to try to make that connection, i would imagine. >> yes, ma'am.

we collect from three different sources. from our system that is remotely accessed by the line with access officer, from the language services, the commercial entity that we have a contact with, they are able to tell us the specific city -- that specificity of each of these calls her. the third is a two-week survey that the city allows. that is what we used for the airport bureau, because it uses a different system. their system is identical to what the law enforcement agencies use in a different county. we do not have access and i cannot access that information. commissioner kingsley: you had given some statistics in terms

of the number of interpreters that have been available to the need. is there a breakdown as to how many interpreters fall within these language categories. for example, the number of interpreters for spanish, cantonese, and so on and? did i miss that? >> i did not bring that this evening, but i will provide that information to you as soon as possible. commissioner kingsley: in general, does it corelate that's our most of our interpreters spanish-speaking? that is where we are getting the greatest need. >> the overwhelming number of certified bilingual officers are certified in spanish and english. commissioner kingsley: would cantonese be the second-largest pool? >> yes, ma'am. commissioner kingsley: thank

you. just wondering how that fell into place. my last question is, on point number six of page seven, the percentage of occ complaints relating to violations of this general order, i was going to ask whether or not how that compared to an earlier time. , but we did not have the general order in place. >> it was roughly 1.4%. there has been a .35% increase in complaints. compared to the last fiscal year occ complaints. it is minute, however, our goal

is zero complaints. commissioner kingsley: do you have any trend on that? that increase is relatively small, but it is it to -- but is it just for this year -- for last year? >> compared to the previous fiscal year, there has been 8.35% increase. i have not been able to look at the past years regarding a violation 5.20. commissioner kingsley: thank you very much, officer. president mazzucco: the occ said there was some place regarding the violation. what is the gravity of these complaints? what do you usually hear? >> i can give you some examples. in one case, there are situations when the ball 911 and

identify that they speak another language. when the tank -- when officers arrived, there is a request for them to speak english. we hear that theme over and over again. in terms of the cases where we have sustained cases, i just wanted to be exact about -- in one of the cases, they were told to speak english despite that the complainant and witnesses were interviewed by bilingual officers. the officers who were at the scene said they could speak perfectly fine, though ultimately, a bilingual officer did interview everyone. ultimately, the police report provided no information that all of the bodies were actually spanish speakers. in another case, the complainants have been accused

of a crime and requested an interpreter. there were denied an interpreter but ultimately, one of the complainants was taken to a hospital and medical staff provided an interpreter. in another case, the individual asked for an interpreter while being questioned as a suspect in a hit and run and was denied an interpreter. the officer admitted, let's just see if we can do this without an interpreter. in another case, a spanish interpreter was used for a 911 call and at the scene, officers insisted that the complainant could and should speak english. president mazzucco: thank you. >> i'm glad you asked the question, because i was looking through the general language and that seems to be a theme. in these cases, don't you speak english? a nod is enough to assume that a person speaks english. there is a ways to go in that respect so that all officers are

aware of that. just because someone says yes, it does not mean they speak english. if you go to another country, you will probably not when acid used the language. it does not mean use the language. for a serious situation involving a witness, a victim, or suspect of a crime, there is work that needs to be done. i have a couple of questions and maybe i could just run through them and we will see if there's time to do this this evening or if we should come back since this is a priority for the commission to address in more detail. i will run through them. officer ha, if there is time, we will ask you to address it. i am looking at the department general order and what needs to be done to fully implement it. there are pieces that stick out for me. i'm wondering if they have been done yet or if there are plans to get them done. one example is on page 4 of the

dgo. all lep custodial interrogations should be taped. i'm wondering if that has happened. are all of these investigations take? so they could be later on check to see if there were accurate in terms of the interpretation, or if there were any other language barrier issues. the second on page 4 is miranda rights were supposed to be a given -- were supposed to be given in the person's language. if it is not available in writing, interpretation is required for due process purposes. that is another question in there. signage, there should be signage at the entry of each public facility as defined by the administrative code. it is not just the dgo that requires language access. the ordinance in our san

francisco code also requires language access. this overlaps with that requirement. also, a question about the department of emergency management. they received a copy of the bilingual personnel list. they're supposed to see it on a monthly basis. we are not there yet. i think we should be there soon in having it as an electronic form. i think we should at least have a hard copy updated according to our dgo. there is another piece in here under the training session on paper -- on page 5. training for officers every two years. training for new recruits. also, training for officers in terms of how to access in person and telephone interpreters, what the policies of the department are, and have to work with interpreters. as someone who works with interpreters, it is a difficult

task. it is an artful task. one of the basic things that all people should know is that when you are speaking with something who is lep, you look at that person and not the interpreter. there are these basic things are important to help them make sure the communication is clear. these can be taught to everybody to facilitate their work. at the bottom of page five, there is a piece about quarterly reporting to the chief a written report on lep matters. i am wondering if that has been happening since this was adopted in 2007. if not, when that will start happening. on the last page, page 6, under number six, there is supposed to be a meeting with the officers of citizens complaints. particularly, with the domestic violence community and

trafficking victims. people that they deal with, i think that is especially important to be in contact and have those discussions. what are you seeing on a daily basis and how can we work together to address these issues? have those meetings been happening and will they in the future? no. 8 on the last page, there should be a biannual report addressing the department's plan which access aphorist. i have been on the commission for 1.5 years. this is the first time we have discussed this. i have not seen any reports, to my knowledge and. lastly, a yearly report to the police commission to provide data concerning cultural services and other things. these are my list of questions. i'm wondering if you want to answer some of these or wanted to spend some time to report back. >> that is a lot of questions. maybe we should take some time. we are obligated to follow the

department general order. if there is any discrepancy, it must be addressed right away. any reports will be done as soon as possible. in terms of sein image -- in terms of signage, we have specific signs in each station and we are required to have them on display. regarding the incident reports, it is the officers duty to ensure that, in the report, he or she indicates documents that the person who is being interviewed or interacted with spoke a different language and if there is an interpretation that happened, they are obligated to put that into the report. if not, that is a violation of the department general orders. commissioner chan: i did have a lot of questions.

i apologize for not giving in to you in advance. i think we will ask you to come back with more notice and i recognize that you have a hard job with a 2000-member department in a city as large as san francisco and all of the issues we deal with with language access. also like to ask you if you have any closing comments. >> i agree with what he said and we will be in compliance with the deal. commissioner chan: in terms of having more discussions with community partners, perhaps bilingual officers who have experience to offer, they can think through what else needs to be done. what if i am a big fan of heavily often. i did not know that he was coming to life for we would have spoken prior to the meeting. commissioner chan: in terms of the public comment peace, you

heidi who will be coming up from -- coming up for public comment. president mazzucco: thank you, commissioner chan, for your hard work in this area. thank you to everyone who has come forward. we will start with public comment for this matter. it is three minutes. >> thank you for the chance to share information. we are part of the domestic violence consortium who responded to domestic routes -- domestic violence abuse. we provide legal and other services. we also do a lot of work to assist victims of trafficking. with respect to the recommendations that have been presented so far today, we have seen, over the last couple of years, unfortunately, regular instances with our clients where situations that the police response and reports that are resulting from these victims of

crime situations have not always been very accurate or consistent as far as reports being taken when the individual involved is someone who is limited english proficient or a non-english speaker. most of our clients are speakers of asian-pacific islanders in san francisco. if they do not speak english. in our dealings in the last year or two in particular, client matters where the klan has been referred to us, they have had what appears to be a clear situation of domestic violence abuse in a particular incident that is the most recent basis for seeking a protective order to restrain against the perpetrator, there have been a couple of instances where the police responded. the client was not an english speaker. basically, after being questioned briefly, and the

perpetrator spoke english, there were told they need to file a report. there have been a couple of instances where if the officer has been supposedly not just an english speaker, but a speaker of the language of the individual involved in the incident, we have had situations where, even if records were taken, there were inaccuracies in those reports. we have been concerned her it in one instance, i recall the alleged instrument or weapon that caused the battery was completely misstated. we have had other instances where an aspect of what occurred were not completely reported from the victim's standpoint in the reports. we really appreciate how much work is being done to want to address this issue and there is certainly good work being done in san francisco by law enforcement. we believe these recommendations

are critical to move toward on and hopefully be pursued further. thank you. president mazzucco: thank you very much. next speaker. >> my name is mike. one quick comment on a topic that i have noticed -- sometimes, the officer's discretion, and i want to -- the majority of the time, it seems to be at par. i have witnessed times when there are details that the write-down one instance. there was an instance two years ago where it was not a speaking issue. he had a mechanical wheelchair and all of the officers came to think that he did not need his chair. i found him crawling all over town how to figure out how to get his chair. if it was not for me, i do not know how he would have gotten all those details together. that was the officer

discretionary it even when he was released, they forced him to crawl. he crawled here, hoping to find help. i found him crawling away from city hall, with tears in his eyes. he did not know what to do. the off topic, and that i have is to do with occupy. president mazzucco: mike, we are talking about language access here. >> they are attacking a refugee camp mostly filled with homeless, people with mental -- president mazzucco: mike, next speaker, please. thank you, mike. next speaker. >> good evening.

interpreters have had their problems, i am sure, but tried being the domestic violence victim when your husband is transferred to the local police station. i was not given a chance to speak even though i said i used to work for the police department. i used to be a captain secretary. that might have counted. i do not know. on the issue of interpretation, the french are pretty good about learning english. they are not stupid to. i have thought about interpretation before hand. it would be nice if the officers carry a packet with them listing the various languages to fill out an incident report in their language, lined paper, fill it out and turn it into the closest station. if it what the officer to wait, they can do it then or stop by they can do it then or stop by later on.