Now researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University have teamed up to closely examine why Hispanics, whose percentage of the state population grew from 1.2 percent in 1990 to 4.7 percent in 2000, have become favorite targets of thieves. More importantly, the investigators have produced educational materials including Spanish-language brochures, public service announcements, a photographic storybook, or “photonovela,” and videos to try to reduce such crimes.
The N.C. Governor’s Crime Commission, Department of Crime Control and Public Safety and Justice Academy supported the effort, along with the N.C. Alliance of Latin Law Enforcement and chiefs of police and sheriffs across the state.
Researchers conducted 42 hour-long, in-depth interviews with law enforcement officers and social service personnel in six N.C. communities: Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, High Point and Greene and Wilkes counties.
They also formed and held discussions with two Spanish-language focus groups -- one for men and one for women -- in each of the six communities to gauge 100 Latino residents’ experiences with crime and law enforcement. Among subjects discussed was what information participants felt was needed to prevent crime in their communities.
“Hispanics are becoming an increasingly important part of North Carolina’s population, and they are not getting the services they should be getting,” said Dr. William M. Rohe, director of the UNC Center for Urban and Regional Studies. “They are being victimized because of their ethnicity and language barriers, and that shouldn’t happen.”
Dr. Thomas A. Arcury, formerly of UNC and now associate professor of community and family medicine at Wake Forest University, directed the project, and Rebecca Elmore, research associate at the Center for Urban and Regional Studies, was project coordinator. Rohe served as principal investigator. Help also came from an advisory committee composed of Hispanics from each of the six communities studied and representatives from law enforcement and the courts.
“Our chief goal was to develop materials that community organizations and law enforcement agencies could use to educate people about ways to reduce crime victimization,” Acury said. “The materials, especially the photonovela, have been very well received, and reactions of the groups and police have been really positive.”
Outside professionals transcribed and translated interviews and focus group discussions into English and Spanish as necessary. Project staff analyzed the resulting information, and distributed educational materials to Spanish language newspapers and radio stations across the state and other outlets.
“An important topic addressed in these materials that was not expected to be a pervasive concern was Latinos’ fear of police brutality based on experiences in their home countries,” Rohe said.
No good statistical information on crimes against Latinos was available for North Carolina, the team found. Most previously produced crime prevention materials also were inappropriate because of language and educational barriers.
Hispanics reported robbery to be the most common and most feared crime they faced. Seven of the 100 focus group participants were robbery victims themselves, and 60 said they knew of at least one Latino robbed or assaulted while living in North Carolina, Elmore said.
“Between 1997 and 1998, there was a group of folks that decided to do home invasions in Latino houses,” a Durham community leader said. “There was a time where almost every day we heard from a family being robbed…there were even rapes, and kids with pistols at their heads and things like that.”
Among many findings were that Latinos:
- often carried around too much cash since they did not trust or know how to use banks and were especially vulnerable on weekends.
- felt unsafe in their neighborhoods and homes, particularly in urban areas.
- tended to live in substandard housing easy to break into in poorer areas.
- were victims of fraud by being overcharged for services and housing, not paid for work completed, sold faulty automobiles and other equipment and cheated over various immigration concerns.
- often did not report crimes because of their inability to speak English and fears of police and immigration officials.
- were largely unfamiliar with state traffic laws.
Were under-served by state law enforcement agencies, which have trouble finding and employing bilingual officers.
Recommendations in the UNC report encourage police to avoid stereotyping Hispanics, increase their visibility in Hispanic neighborhoods, teach crime prevention skills, reassure them that they need not fear police and be patient with the language barrier.
“It’s a misconception that all these people are illegal aliens,” Rohe said. “Many of them are Americans, many others are here legally and, even if they are undocumented workers, we should still try to protect them like we protect other people.”
Arcury said the materials are available through the N.C. Governor’s Crime Commission Web site at www.gcc.state.nc.usCrime_Preventionspanish_language.htm or by calling him at 336-716-9438 or Elmore at 919-962-3512.
Note: Rohe and Elmore can be reached at 919-962-4769 and 962-3512, respectively, Arcury at 336- 716-9438.
By DAVID WILLIAMSON
UNC News Services