In the city of Springfield, one out of every five residents speaks a language other than English at home, according to federal Census figures from 2003. Forty-one percent of them report that they do not speak English “very well.”

Springfield’s diversity is one of its strengths. But the diversity of its languages can also be one of the city’s biggest challenges. The public school system—where 57 percent of the students are Hispanic—struggles with how to work with children who come from non-English-speaking homes. In 2006, the U.S. Justice Department filed a voting rights lawsuit against the city for failing to adequately serve Spanish-speaking voters, prompting officials to hire more bilingual poll workers and provide translators, among other changes.

Now a group of city activists is calling on the Springfield Police Department to improve its services to residents who don’t speak English. The Pioneer Valley Project—a coalition of community, religious and labor groups—is advocating for a city ordinance that would establish strict protocols for how the SPD deals with non-English speakers, including bilingual interpreters and translated documents. The changes, they say, would ensure that the city is satisfying federal civil rights laws, and strengthen communication between police and residents in situations that can have life-or-death consequences.

See: Valley Advocate