Calera police looking for Spanish-speaking officers, dispatchers

CALERA, Ala. (WIAT) -- The Calera police chief said his department is in desperate need of more Spanish-speaking officers and dispatchers.

Police chief David Hyche said his officers often interact with people who don’t speak English. He said the language barrier makes police work harder, leading to situations that waste resources and keep officers from patrolling their beats.

Hyche said this past weekend, his officers were making an arrest for driving under the influence when they ran into what he called a common situation.

“There was a communication problem," Hyche said. "We were not able to communicate in English, so we used translation service to talk to the driver. It's difficult to do a sobriety test, even through a translation service, but virtually impossible when you have a lang