Police try cultural outreach to engage immigrant communities

The lights flashed, the siren went off and two Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers got out of the car. The officers had pulled over four Burmese youths in a white 16-passenger van. The youths' vehicle was swaying back and forth over the yellow traffic lines.

When officer Candi Perry got to the van driver’s window, she asked James Tluang to put his hands on the steering wheel. Then Perry asked to see Tluang’s license. The driver, 20, politely handed the officer his wallet.

“Do not give us your entire wallet,” Perry said to the crowd of youths standing beside the van on Saturday in the parking lot of IMPD's East District Headquarters.

The traffic stop was a demonstration in the IMPD and Me program, which encourages officer engagement with immigrant communities. About 50 Burmese youths from the Falam Baptist Church of Indiana met with police officers, learned what to do in a traffic stop and took notes from the bomb squad. Earlier this month, IMPD Chief Troy Riggs told IndyStar he was concerned about how his department can address the city's growing immigrant communities, adding that immigrant involvement in policing "helps us with some of the cultural issues that we have at times when we're trying to investigate crimes or investigate victims."

Through active cultural outreach, authorities say they will be able to improve police-community relations.

In three years, Perry has had 40 groups participate in the IMPD and Me program. The officer said extending the offer to immigrant communities to come to the police department has helped debunk the negative perception those communities have of police. Perry said the program and the department's efforts to engage have helped IMPD police Indianapolis' smaller communities more effectively.

The officer said community policing has made the department seem more trustworthy, which encourages immigrants to call for help when there's an issue. Perry said she uses their calls as a measure for the program's success.

"There's a freedom in conversation that wasn’t there before," she said.

Terri Downs, the executive director of the Immigrant Welcome Center, said the center has supported IMPD's immigrant outreach programs for years. She said it's hard for police to foster meaningful relationships with immigrant and refugee populations, many of whom come from countries where the police are people to be feared.

"It's very, very difficult to gain the trust of them from a person in uniform, because of the number of military governments throughout the world that would jail people," she said. "(The IMPD officers) recognize the importance of coming to them and bringing them in and saying, 'We are your friends.'"

Run Sui Lian, 21, Indianapolis, met Perry at the Immigrant Welcome Center. He said he questioned why IMPD had a liaison for Indianapolis' Latino population but not for the Burmese. He began to ask Perry about available programs to learn more.

Lian, who encouraged the Falam Baptist Church youth group to participate on Saturday, was skeptical the first time Perry invited him to the department. Lian said many in the Burmese community see police as "anti-civilian," that police don't approach people to be helpful.

Lian's first visit to the department was with a friend. He said he was surprised to learn how much he didn't know about the state's laws, policies and procedures when it comes to police work. After his visit, Lian told other people in his community about the program, encouraging them to participate.

Though Lian said Perry is "really cool" and that her work has benefited the community, he said there are still gaps in police and community engagement.

"It's a correlation between the two," Lian said. "We have to approach them, too."

Officials said they agree, efforts to establish strong relationships with ethnic and minority communities can't end with outreach events.

For example, they point to a need for diversity within the police rank-and-file — something that is also seen as a way to help police de-escalate potentially turbulent situations and build trust in urban minority communities.

An IndyStar examination of department staffing found that the city’s police force is less diverse today than it was nearly 25 years ago, even as the city has grown more diverse. Blacks, for example, make up 28 percent of the city's population but only 14 percent of IMPD. Women make up 13 percent of the department.

City officials have in recent weeks pitched new ways to boost those numbers.

A proposal that would free up $50,000 of city money for IMPD recruitment this year passed Wednesday out of a City-County Council committee. Co-sponsor Leroy Robinson, a Democrat, said the funds could be used to finance trips for recruiters to historically black colleges and universities to seek out talent.

And earlier this month, the council passed a measure codifying into law an existing Police Merit Board policy that backers say would allow the chief to make additional minority hires at his or her discretion.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett praised the measure's passage, writing in a statement that it "will improve ongoing efforts to strengthen our police force by making it more representative of the people it serves."

Call IndyStar reporter Jill Disis at (317) 444-6137. Follow her on Twitter: @jdisis.

Call IndyStar reporter Olivia Lewis at (317) 444-6126. Follow her on Twitter:@TheWrittenPeace.