Bilingual Officers – The Future of Policing?

The future of policing?

Ever had your purse pinched? Well fear not, the police’s latest weapon in the fight against crime is here: the bilingual officer. The recruitment of overseas officers is a police initiative set up to crack down on foreign gangs, many of whom target the Westfield shopping centre.

French-speaking officers have been used in an undercover operation to infiltrate an Algerian gang. Although this may read like a James Bond script, the use of bilingual policemen has led to the arrest of ten individuals responsible for theft.

Inspector Dan Stobbart claims that such measures are necessary to tackle the growing number of foreign gangs in the area, especially at a time when the police are experiencing Government cuts. 

Only time will tell whether this is an effective and sustainable approach to policing gangs, however, in the mean time foreign criminals better watch out for those who may be listening in…

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Police learn sign language

When you think about languages, sign language isn’t often the first one that comes to mind. But it’s an important one, as police in Country Durham are learning. They have been offered sign language classes to help them communicate with a wider range of people in the local community.

The course will teach up to 17 people over the course of nine weeks. This is a great idea – if more companies followed suit and helped their employees with language learning, it would make a huge difference to the UK’s ability to communicate in the global marketplace.

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