Tips for law enforcement professionals

Have your office qualify the interpreter before adding them to the list.  If you take the time to set up your criteria once, and make a list of who meets that criteria, you'll be ready for any call for interpreters including those last minute only  appointments.  If you rely on an Interpretation/Translation agency to meet your requests, ask how they qualify their staff.

Monterrey, Mexico.

Additional  Resources:

 

“What do You Mean By That?”  Specific Terms in a Q&A Produce Direct Responses

Claims Magazine - National publication of the Insurance management industry

 

IW Publications                                     January 1999 

Available online at http://www.claimsmag.com/Issues/January/WhatMean.asp

Here's what to look for:

 

Þ Obtain their Texas Department of Licensing Licensed Court Interpreter Number.

Þ Verify their status online at http://www.license.state.tx.us/LicenseSearch/.

Þ  Focus on candidates who specialize in legal interpreting and translation and who cite training and membership in professional associations.  Note their training and CE’s (a BA in Spanish is not enough…)

Þ Verify their law firm references.

Þ Verify their fluency in English yourself by calling and speaking with them.

Þ Confirm  if they perform simultaneous or consecutive; see TIP under “Modes of Interpreting” on the Working With Interpreters page.

Þ Ask about their rates, payment terms, minimums and advance notice requirements.

 

TIPS TO AVOID PROBLEMS DURING THE Q&A

 

Giving these instructions (in bold) to the respondent through the interpreter before you begin a statement and you will avoid the more common problems that arise when a respondent does not know how to speak through an interpreter.

1.  The interpreter works just like a telephone.  You are not speaking directly to him/her.  You are speaking to me or to your attorney.

This prevents the respondent from starting private conversations, asking the

interpreter to clarify a question or confiding in the interpreter.

 

2.  You must answer verbally, out loud, do not nod or shake your head to respond.  Do not respond with uh huh or unh uh.  Do not point to parts of your body as a response.  This prevents the recording being blank because there were no words spoken or you having to repeat the response in your own words.  It also prevents the interpreter from having to guess what the motion signifies.

 

3.  Don’t respond before the question has been interpreted.  Don’t respond in English.  This prevents the respondent from responding to a misunderstood question and the recording of both the interpreter and respondent talking over each other.  It also disrupts the interpreter’s flow and can confuse the questioner.

 

TIPS FOR A SMOOTH QUESTIONING PROCEDURE

· Speak in the first person and directly to respondent.  (“Are you…” not “Is he…”)

· A reasonably good consecutive interpreter should be able to handle 5 or less sentences at a time.  Speaking only one sentence at a time to be interpreted actually jolts our flow.

· Avoid compound questions and statements.

· Avoid idiomatic expressions.

· Consider cultural distinctions of law enforcement and social behavior for new immigrants to The United States.

 

 

SEATING

 

In most recorded statements, the inexperienced claimant naturally perceives that he/she is speaking to the interpreter.  This can be distracting to both you and the interpreter and will detract from your effectiveness asking the questions.  Also it will cause the respondent to go into the third person (tell him that...) which disrupts proper interpretation.

 

Sit across from the respondent, maintain eye contact in order to maintain control of

the  questioning.

 

ARE YOU BILLINGUAL IN SPANISH AND ENGLISH?

 

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Increase your value, expand your qualifications!

 

This specially designed group course includes:

· Individual aptitude assessment

· Language skills improvement: written and spoken, terminology and phraseology

· Professional Interpreting skills improvement: consecutive and simultaneous modes

· Interpreting tools and resources

· Translation tools and resources

 

Designed to meet your  specific needs and to enhance your performance.

Contact Diane dianeteichman@linquisticworld.com for details today.

 

 

Don’t risk your case on a walking technicality: EVIDENTARY RECORDING, videos and Tapes in a foreign language require highly skilled legal interpreters to transcribe them.  They have to have the credentials and experience as an

expert witness to be credible, withstand the grilling from a defense attorney and to

perform accurate work.  (also see Video and Audio Transcription & Translation page)

 

Don’t rely on a relative, friend or bilingual bystander to interpret for you.  Unless they are trained in the correct process of interpreting, you run the risk that they will add, paraphrase or provide their own version of your questions.  .  These untrained bilingual persons may not be able to retain in order to render a response from an emotional person.  As a result you may be given useless information.  Funding should be made available for trained interpreters for law enforcement work.  (See Oaths Rules and Ethics page)

 

When speaking through an interpreter, speak directly to the non English speaker in the first person (“Are you the person who…  “not “Ask him if he…”) Let the interpreter be your telephone.  A professional interpreter will repeat word for word what everyone says.  (See Working With Interpreters page)

 

Maintain eye contact with the person just as you would with an English speaking person.  Don’t let the presence of an interpreter be a buffer to your efficiency and skill.  There should be no private or un-interpreted conversations between respondent and the interpreter.

 

Avoid acronyms and abbreviations, that same sequence of letters may have a totally different meaning in another language.

 

Bilingual officers should not have their language ability taken for granted.  If they are expected to serve as interpreters and if the testimony they have interpreted will be presented as evidence in court, then they should be allowed to be trained as an interpreter.