Voiceover: 00.00 This is The Beat - a podcast series that keeps you in the know about the latest community policing topics facing our nation Pradine Saint-Fort: 00.08 Hello. My name is Pradine Saint-Fort, and I'm a program associate in the Center on Immigration and Justice at the Vera Institute of Justice. In 2010, the Vera Institute and the COPS office partnered to produce a guide for law enforcement agencies looking to either begin or to enhance their work with immigrant communities. The guide is a national report titled "Engaging Police in Immigrant Communities: Promising Practices From the Field." This report profiles promising practices from 10 policing agencies from across the country. This podcast is a part of a series of recordings that accompany this report. Each podcast is in a Q and A format and provides practical advice from agency personnel who have been involved in the promising practices we feature in our report. In this podcast, we are joined by Robin Martinson, a community liaison with the Brooklyn Park Police Department in Minnesota. Robin's here to share some practical tips when doing outreach to multicultural communities. Thanks for joining us, Robin. Robin Martinson: 01.00 Oh, it's good to be here. Saint-Fort: 01.02 Let's start by giving the audience a sense of Brooklyn Park's community. Could you please describe the communities living in your city? Martinson: 01.08 Well, Brooklyn Park has a very culturally diverse population. Nearly 48 percent of our residents are people of color, and roughly 20 percent of the population is foreign-born. Our city has one of the largest Liberian populations outside of Liberia, and we have a fairly large Southeast Asian and Hispanic Latino population. Saint-Fort: 01.28 Thank you. That gives our audience a good general sense of some of the city's immigrant populations. So, when you started your position, your community liaison position, how did you begin meeting members of these communities? Martinson: 01.39 Well, I went everywhere, and I started out visiting established immigrant organizations, but I also went and visited with ministers and pastors and visited their churches or places of worship. I went to apartment complexes and talked with managers there. So, a lot of different community- based organizations. And I found these places online, or sometimes through ethic newspapers that I'd get from the local library. And I'd contact the organization, I'd let them know my role was to build a connection between the department and the community, and that's how I met many of the community leaders. And as I contacted them, I would also make an effort to attend local ethnic events to meet people who weren't leaders but are members of the community. I wanted to go where people were, and I know by going where they were having a celebration where they were feeling comfortable and they gathered, it would be a lot easier. And I also went to a lot of ethnic stores and introduced myself to shop owners. And while there I'd look at bulletin boards and see what events were coming up and look at those that I might want to attend. I also made relationships with English as a Second Language teachers, because a large portion of the immigrant community went to those language classes to learn English. When I was just starting out, I'd go to those classes and just visit and introduce myself and then that turned into doing Q and A sessions and I'd bring officers with. And I also developed a relationship with the different refugee resettlement agencies and oftentimes did new arrival classes, and that was another great connection. Saint-Fort: 03.14 Great! Wow, you were quite busy. So, you've been in that position now for about seven years or so? What are some of the practical things that you've learned that have helped some of your events be successful? Martinson: 03.26 Well, personal relationships and follow-up are so important, especially when you first start your outreach efforts. And I really can't stress that enough. For our communities, I've learned that people are not gonna come to your event if they don't know who you are or what the event is about. So, it's all about that personal invitation is best. And you have to develop those relationships and also maintain the relationships. So, for an example, after I meet a minister or a pastor and develop that initial relationship, I'll actually go and attend the church service and then I'm introduced while I'm at the service and so the congregation knows who I am. And afterwards, if I have an event that I'm planning and I want to invite people, I'll return to the church and make an announcement. And I also will place announcements in ethnic papers or go to ethnic radio stations. I find that if you're gonna send out an email announcing an event, it's usually best not to send out a mass mailing; that emails really should be personal. So, I usually; it takes a little bit more time, but just send it, put a personal greeting asking how that person is, and then kind of move into the topic. And I've learned this over time and I'm still learning, so for some of our community, just a phone call works best, just to spread the word about an event. Saint-Fort: 04.49 That's really helpful for our audience to hear; I mean, you drive home the fact that it's important to learn how to reach out to your communities. So, what are some of the other, kind of, really practical hands- ons things you do to make your events successful? Martinson: 05.04 Well, there's a couple of things. One thing is I try to make sure that I bring community members to the table during the early stages of planning an event. And usually people are really eager to help out and help plan it. And it also helps us stay on top of any cultural considerations that we might miss. Also, at an event it's really important to give the necessary credit and acknowledgement to those community members who have helped out, and it's a real important sign of respect and gratitude. I've also found that it's useful to give practical door prizes at community events. And this is something we've done, like giving a bag of rice or maybe some cleaning supplies or gift cards. And initially, first when people were suggesting that, it was a little bit different, but what we found out is that people love to get things that they could use. And they didn't care, no matter how small it was, it was just appreciated that they got something. So, it's kind of like finding out what your community would like to use and then we realize how much they really appreciate it. Also, I do my best to provide food at our events, and I've learned that having food at the events is very important. I'd say it's even mandatory. And especially if you can get cultural foods from a local restaurant, that's even better. You know, it's a great form of hospitality that many of our communities respond well to and really appreciate. So I make sure I try to do my best to provide it. And then I also learned to expect that certain events are not gonna start on time. So plan accordingly. Saint-Fort: 06.37 That's really useful and helpful. Are there any events that you would highlight as being some of your most successful, where you used some of these practical things? Martinson: 06.47 Well, one of the things that's probably been one of our most successful things is we do what we call a New Americans’ Academy and it's a class that runs for six weeks. And it's similar to a lot of police departments do a Citizens' Academy so they can learn more about the police. This is geared a little bit more for people who are newer to this country, so we spend a lot of time so that people can have a chance to ask questions of the police, but also learn a lot of things about a lot of the laws and rules and regulations and city codes and ordinances. Because what we find is that we have so many in our country. So, it's a chance; we leave a lot of time for people to ask different questions of whoever our speakers are. And so that's been really, really popular. And usually the word gets out from people who have attended and invite others to attend. Saint-Fort: 07.34 How did you learn these things? How did you learn to bring rice and all of these things and develop something like the New Americans Academy and other events? Martinson: 07.44 Well, believe me, when I started I barely knew the boundaries of Brooklyn Park, let alone I didn't know anyone in the Liberian community. But it's been over time that of the people that I've met that have taught me these things, and, you know, when I go to community organized cultural events, I'd introduce myself. I asked questions. I asked a lot of questions and I also listened a lot. I was really committed to learning about all the cultures that live in Brooklyn Park. The learning process is similar to my initial outreach efforts, and I sign up for different, various cultural ListServs so I get information about events so that I can attend those events. Saint-Fort: 08.22 So, after you've cultivated very strong relationships, how do you keep people interested and motivated to be involved? Martinson: 08.31 Well, you know, once you develop relationships and trust, you get to a place where you can just ask people and they're willing to come out. And the thing is that I can't stress the part about relationships enough, because it's important to establish relationships but also maintain those. And those relationships really have to be genuine. And so once people trust you, they're willing to come out, they're willing to be a part of things. So a lot of times this gives us an opportunity for immigrants and refugees to come out and share their stories, either with members of our agency or the city, but also with other members of the community. And when people trust you, they're more honest about other needs, and you can address them. For example, you have to be really mindful about arranging; people need transportation or they might need day care if they want to attend or volunteer for an event. So, it's being mindful of those things. And people also get more involved when they understand how that participation benefits their community. So, again, all of this takes time. Saint-Fort: 09.35 What advice do you give to community liaisons who are just starting out? Martinson: 09.39 Well, I'd say make frequent visits with community members and, like I said, listening. You know, developing those genuine, authentic relationships. Another thing I do a lot is I offer a lot of different resources. I keep my eyes open to what's going on and so when I meet somebody and I know of a resource, I made that available to them. I don't assume things. I ask a lot of questions. So that would be, kind of, my first list of advice I'd give. But I think it's really, really important to know the cultural history and background of the communities that you serve and that information only helps you. And oftentimes this is; it's a lot of work, it's fun work, but it's a lot of nights and weekends because you've got to be available when people are available. So you have to be flexible about your time and also I mentioned about the concept of time is that it's a little bit different than ours, so you have to learn to adjust. I always tell people to start small. Try something. Take a baby step. But then build on those experiences and try new things. Be creative. And don't be afraid to fail, because sometimes I've done some things and it works and sometimes it doesn't, but we learn from that. It's a process. And then, after awhile, you become known in the community and, believe me, people start to seek you out when they know you, so that's kind of fun. Saint-Fort: 11.02 So, any advice for working with the officers in the department? Martinson: 11.07 Well, one of the things is I got to know the officers first, because, again, I'm a civilian, you know. A police department's a different culture itself. So, I got to know the officers, but as I got to know the community members, I'd like to offer trainings to the police officers and sometimes even the city staff so that they could learn to understand the cultures better of the people that they served. And sometimes I'd have different experiences and I'd like to take those back to the police department; the things that I would learn about other people's cultures. So, it just helps the officers; you know, the officers and others in the agency to improve the services for those communities. Because it's not just the police but our city provides services for our communities. So, I always try to be willing to go beyond what my role is and the community at large will be better for it. Saint-Fort: 12.00 Thank you, Robin. That's a very, very strong message and I'm sure our audience appreciates it. Martinson: 12.05 My pleasure. Voiceover 12:07 The Beat was brought to you by the United States Department of Justice COPS Office. The COPS Office helps to keep our nation’s communities safe by giving grants to law enforcement agencies, developing community policing publications, developing partnerships, and solving problems. 5