Sheriff’s Office Announces Services in Spanish
KANKAKEE, IL – The Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office, working closely with the Hispanic Heritage Group of Kankakee County, has announced several ways that the two groups are finding ways
to accommodate the Spanish‐Speaking community. Earlier last month, Sheriff Tim Bukowski and Undersheriff Mike Downey began exploring ways to unite the Spanish‐Speaking community and the Sheriff’s Deputies (as well as other first responders in Kankakee County). After speaking with members of the Hispanic Heritage Group, the Sheriff’s Office developed several ways to better communicate with those in the community that use Spanish as their primary language (a talent that a large majority of first responders in Kankakee County simply do not possess).
“We recognize that social media is, in fact, one of the primary means of communication in this day in age,” stated Kankakee County Undersheriff Mike Downey. “We realize that our agency’s social media
pages gain a lot of attention throughout the community, as well as media outlets, and that we would be on the cutting‐edge by providing a Facebook page, similarly to the one we already maintain, in Spanish. In addition to our Facebook page, we have begun equipping our deputies’ smartphones with automatic translation apps that will allow our officers to better communicate with those in their time of crisis.”
With additional shortages and cuts in the Sheriff’s Office budget, Sheriff Bukowski realizes that certain innovative techniques must be introduced to better serve the community.
“As much as we would like to hire an influx of Spanish‐Speaking officers that would ensure a Spanish‐Speaking officer was on‐duty at any given time, we certainly realize that the likelihood of our agency hiring any additional officers is virtually non‐existent at this time,” said Sheriff Tim Bukowski. “We are simply trying to get by with the resources that we have been provided with and still provide services that benefit the community.”
The Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office encourages the community to spread the word in regards to its new outreach efforts, especially those interested in staying up‐to‐date on Facebook. Anyone interested in ‘Liking’ the Sheriff’s Facebook page en Espanol, can go to www.Facebook.com/KankakeeCountySheriffsOfficeEnEspanol.
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