Helping his community (2/12/05)

Portland resident Rafael Briones used his internship at Ball State University to help those who speak Spanish.

The December BSU graduate — who earned degrees in a political science and Spanish — spent approximately four months in 2004 translating into Spanish documents used by the Portland Police Department, the Jay County Sheriff’s Department, the Jay County Jail and Portland City Court. He also translated 55 pages of legal terms.

Besides translating documents, Briones created short movies explaining guidelines for completing a statement at the police department and inmate rules at the jail.

“Instead of going into a government office filing paperwork (for an internship), I decided to do something that can help my community,” Briones said last week. “I thought (the internship) was a nice way to give back ... I wanted to show my community that there is a lot of stuff that can be done (to support the Hispanic population).”

Briones began translating documents provided by Portland Police Chief Bob Sours and Jay County Chief Deputy Mitch Sutton after meeting with them individually and discussing the needs of each department regarding Spanish-speaking citizens and inmates.

For the police department, Briones translated forms for voluntary statements, warning and wavier of rights, battery affidavits and documents used to report a missing or runaway juvenile used by the Indiana Data and Communications System. These documents were provided on a computer disk, which allows department officials to make copies and update the documents as needed.

Briones also created an approximately seven-minute DVD for the department which describes in Spanish how to correctly fill out a voluntary statement.

“We have these forms printed out and available for officers to use,” Sours said earlier this week. “It is about us getting a better statement that meets our needs ... We really appreciate what (Briones) did. It will be a great benefit to us.”

For the sheriff’s department, Briones translated into Spanish the jail rules, including guidelines for personal cleanliness, rules of conduct, responsibilities, penalties for misconduct, inmate rights, incoming materials and mail, visitation, correspondence, inmate grievances, commissary, escrow account, haircuts, recreation and library programs and medical, lock down and church policies.

“He has been a great asset to us as far as our dealings with the Hispanic community,” Sutton said this week about Briones. “The objective was to make sure the rights of Spanish-speaking inmates are protected.”

The approximately seven-minute video Briones produced for the jail, which will be viewed by Spanish-speaking inmates who are sentenced to serve time, highlights some of the jail rules.

“They will know what to expect at the jail and what is expected of them,” Sutton said.

Briones also provided the jail with a disk that includes forms describing the test administered when someone is arrested for driving while intoxicated and the warning and wavier of rights.

Prior to Briones’ project, the jail staff would contact a local translator to read these documents in Spanish.

“Some translators work as a courtesy to the Hispanic community and to us, and others charge a fee”, Sutton said.

A translator will still be needed by both departments during police interviews.

For his self-funded project, Briones also turned his focus to the local court system.

He translated forms used for city court, including the fee schedule and directions for paying a citation.

Briones also met with Jay Superior Court Judge Joel Roberts and requested he review a 40-minute video produced about a year ago in Hamilton Superior Court of a mock initial hearing and guilty plea hearing with a Spanish translator.

“(Watching the video) will be a nice way for the accused to prepare before they go into the legal setting. Because this is scary for them,” Briones said, adding that he is still looking for a way for this video to be viewed by Spanish-speaking inmates before their initial hearing.

Briones’ project was different from many internships, BSU political science professor Roger Hollands had seen.

“Most students perform internships in the law office setting ... He provided a very important service, and it was a great learning experience. I hope he continues to work in this area ... He has a tremendous amount of enthusiasm,” Hollands said.

Briones also offers his translating services to other area organizations or businesses. He can be contacted at [email protected].

“I would be willing to do more projects for my community,” he said.

He also expressed his interest in volunteering his time and teaching a class at the John Jay Center for Learning in Portland.

“We would like to go beyond the English as a Second Language class,” Rob Weaver, executive director of the JJCL said this week. “(Briones) has shown some interest in working with us to help the Hispanic community through education.”

Briones said he would like to teach a class introducing the court system to the Hispanic community.[[In-content Ad]]