Anahi Martinez hadn’t planned to attend the kickoff meeting of the Duncanville UNIDOS program, but after an hour, she said it was “inspiring” to see the way officers cared for the Hispanic community.
Martinez, 21, was at the playground nearby with family when event organizers approached them and invited them to discuss questions about immigration. She and her mom do have questions, Martinez said, as they’re trying to renew their uncle’s residency but it’s confusing in the current climate.
“Most of the Hispanic community, I know they’re scared to come up here,” Martinez said. “We don’t really trust police officers or any agents at the moment because of what is going on with [President Donald] Trump. It’s all happening way too fast and who wouldn’t be scared?”
The UNIDOS, or United, program works to address that lack of trust between police and Hispanic residents. Allen police Chief Steve Dye founded the program while he was working as a traffic officer in Garland.
He noticed the language barrier between Hispanic residents and officers bred mistrust and limited Hispanic residents from reporting crimes or serving as witnesses. To address these issues, Dye and fellow officers began hosting regular meetings in community spaces to answer questions, present on topics and build relationships, all in Spanish.
In the decades since, dozens of police departments have adopted the program including Dallas, Waco, Arlington and Plano. Duncanville, which just got its program up and running in March, is the 28th department to join according to Michelle Arias, a crime prevention officer and the program’s leader.
Arias joined the force in Duncanville in 2014, becoming the department’s first Hispanic female officer. Growing up, Arias said she would translate for her mother, who didn’t speak English, any time they interacted with police. She saw the fear and intimidation her mother experienced and wanted to help people feel “a little more comfortable” during unexpected encounters — like traffic accidents or 911 calls — with police officers.
“To see that relief in a person when I start speaking their language. … That is everything to me,” Arias said.
Duncanville has increasingly become a more Hispanic community. Census data shows Hispanic residents made up 15% of the town in 2000 and 45% in 2020. As the community has changed, the police department is working to make sure it keeps up.
Duncanville police Chief Matthew Stogner said at a February community meeting that he wants the department’s demographics to reflect the community. Arias said there’s already been progress since she joined — she estimated 5% to 10% of officers were Hispanic 10 years ago, and now they make up a third of the department. Data from the department shows white officers make up another third, and Black officers are about 23%.
Community members told Arias they’d noticed the difference too. Some came up to her at the March 12 UNIDOS kickoff meeting and said the department used to have a reputation for not being approachable, but they’d seen the change in who is being hired and how they’re being trained.
After introducing herself, the program and the other Spanish-speaking officers, Arias fielded numerous questions from residents. She said many of them were about how to resolve disputes with neighbors or address parking issues in their neighborhoods, typical questions officers get flagged down for all the time.
“The fact that they were asking these questions at that kickoff meeting just indicated that these are normal people that have the same questions everyone else has, but they haven’t been able to ask them because of the language barrier,” she said.
Moving forward, Arias said she plans to host quarterly meetings, focusing each on a current event or topic affecting the Hispanic community. It follows the model set by other departments across the area, which meet regularly for UNIDOS “family” meetings to share success stories, brainstorm together and troubleshoot problems. Arias has attended them for about two years as she prepared to launch the program in her department.
She also wants to make it fun, emphasizing the importance of getting to “just break bread and spend time together.” She already has ideas for a Christmas party.
Amy Robledo has lived in Duncanville for 13 years and said she found the event very beneficial. She appreciated the legal presentation and Q&A with an immigration law firm, as it gave her information she could go back and share with friends and neighbors.
“The police here are letting it be known ‘No, call us. We’re here to help, we’re here to serve you regardless of what your immigration status is.’ and I think that’s beautiful,” she said. “I think we need to hear that more in the Hispanic community.”