Issues related to documentation and overcrowding were discussed as the Red Bank Police Department held its first meeting to bridge the divide between police and the borough’s Spanish-speaking residents.
“It was a great meeting,” said the Rev. Alberto Tamayo, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Church, Bridge Avenue. “It was a very good dialogue between the Police Department and the people. They got to meet each other and they got to meet the mayor, and a lot of them had never met the mayor before.”
On the cold, snowy evening of Feb. 21, more than 60 Spanish-speaking churchgoers stayed after Saturday-evening Mass to participate in a community dialogue facilitated by Red Bank Police Chief Darren McConnell and Mayor Pasquale Menna, who has some fluency in Spanish.
Also in attendance were Councilman Arthur Murphy III, who serves as police commissioner; Councilwoman Cindy Burnham; and Sgt. Juan Sardo, who is one of the Police Department’s Spanish-speaking officers.
Forty percent of the congregation at St. Anthony of Padua speaks Spanish, according to Tamayo.
“The thing that I was happiest about was just seeing the rapport that people had with the police,” Tamayo said. “Because of the way the officers were during the meeting — their openness with the people — I could tell very quickly that people became comfortable with the police officers and the [borough] officials that were present.
“I think the main thing is that we’re a tight-knit community here in Red Bank, so it’s important for people to feel like they can have a rapport with those who are there to serve us — so that they don’t have any apprehensions about going forward when they need help or they need to report on things that are happening in the community.”
The meeting between the Police Department and the borough’s Hispanic community came after some residents expressed concern that the police weren’t doing enough outreach to Red Bank’s Spanish-speaking residents. Following shooting incidents and home invasions that occurred in the borough, police officials urged residents to report any suspicious activity.
According to Tamayo, police officials used the Feb. 21 meeting to inform the community that there is a Spanish-speaking officer on duty at all times, and that the borough’s text-message and email alert system used to communicate with residents has a Spanish-language option.
Sardo, who grew up in Venezuela and became a police officer in the United States, connected very well with the congregation, according to Tamayo.
“Once he [talked about his past], people kind of breathed easier, because when somebody there has been through a similar experience … you know that the person is able to see things through your eyes, too,” Tamayo said.
The police officials also addressed issues related to documentation.
“There has been some fears among Spanish speaking members of our community that if they go to the police, they will be reported regarding immigration status,” Tamayo said.
“The police spent a good deal of time discussing that with them, letting them know that they’re there to protect them and they’re there to protect the community,” he said. “They’re not looking to have people deported or anything like that, and that if you’re going to the police because you’ve been a victim of a crime or you’ve witnessed a crime, that your immigration status is irrelevant to that.”
Also discussed were issues related to code enforcement and overcrowding among members of the Spanish-speaking community, according to Menna.
“The majority of the questions were code issues,” Menna said. “[The residents] said, ‘Look, if there’s overcrowding in some of these places, the reason why there’s overcrowding is because we have a landlord who is charging us three times what the unit is supposed to go for, and we have to also put food on the table and we can’t make ends meet.
“This is a situation that has been ongoing for a while, and that’s why I really think that, in many instances, the people who are mostly responsible for the overcrowding are not the tenants, but the landlords.”
Borough officials also addressed code enforcement as it relates to safety, reminding residents to have smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in their home, and to make sure their equipment is working properly.
Both Menna and Tamayo said they hope to have similar meetings in the future, with McConnell saying that he would like to make it a biannual event.
“I just think it was a good way of starting a better line of communication between the Police Department and the Hispanic community. … We’re hoping they are less afraid to come forward and talk to us about issues, whether they have an issue and need our help or have information that will help us,” McConnell said.
Tamayo said his congregation was “thrilled” to have an open dialogue with the Police Department.
“I went around and asked the people what they thought afterward, and they were very happy,” Tamayo said. “I think the more that the public officials are meeting in close quarters with their constituents, I think, the better our community will be for it.”