CLEARWATER – The Clearwater Police Department is being recognized as a model agency for its positive police-immigrant community relations. CPD is one of 10 agencies selected from more than 200 to be profiled in the Vera Institute of Justice’s comprehensive report, “Engaging Police in Immigrant Communities: Promising Practices from the Field.”
CPD best-practices highlighted in the report include the following:
• Helping create a Hispanic Outreach Center to offer bilingual – English and Spanish – victim advocacy, family advocacy, mental health counseling, legal and immigration services, and English as a Second Language classes. The center is also the primary workstation for the department’s Hispanic liaison officer.
• Creating a civilian interpreter program in a partnership with the YWCA of Tampa Bay.
• Partnering with multiple organizations to create the Clearwater Area Task Force Against Human Trafficking, which identifies trafficking victims, provides victim support and uncovers trafficking networks.
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