Imagine if your formative years were spent where police don't have uniforms or squad cars, where a traffic stop can be dangerous or even fatal, or where violations require immediate payment -- to the officer.
Some new immigrants share such a background. In response, a Twin Cities program has taken a familiar concept -- the citizens academy, classes where civilians can learn about law enforcement -- and customized it for immigrants, to strengthen ties between them and police. Now, the program has become an international model.
The New Americans' Academy is a collaboration among Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Hopkins and Richfield, Hennepin County and the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council. Organizers have shared their methods with officials from Chaska to the Netherlands. They have spoken before the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and to law enforcement groups all over the country.
"We feel honored that someone would want to replicate it," said organizer Monique Drier, a community liaison for Brooklyn Center, along with Robin Martinson, her Brooklyn Park counterpart.
At an introductory session last week, a couple of dozen participants from several cities ringed a conference room at the Village Creek Police substation in Brooklyn Park. They aren't asked to identify their home country; some might fear for their immigration status, Drier said. But name placards gave clues: Fathiqa, Ahamed, Tarpeh, Ramirez, Toovi.
The program is part of a larger effort to improve relations between police and growing immigrant communities.
"It's about reaching out to a population that sometimes doesn't have an idea or concept about what law enforcement might be in Minnesota," said Brooklyn Park Police Cmdr. Brian Peters, supervisor of the community services division. "A lot of immigrant communities we deal with have that distrust of police because of their dealings in their home country."
Jeremiah Wiah of New Hope recalled a visit with family in Liberia, noting that people hire private security there.
