LEGISLATIVE ANALYST REPORT

SUMMARY OF REQUESTED ACTION

A motion (introduced by Supervisor Maxwell) requesting the Office of the Legislative Analyst (OLA) to provide research on ways in which the City and County of San Francisco may increase its number of bilingual police officers and support staff. Specifically, the motion requested information on how other cities and counties have sought to address this issue, such as through salary bonuses and other incentives, targeted recruitment programs, or other policies and programs.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Our office chose to survey the five (5) U.S. cities with the largest percentages of persons who speak a language other than English at home, according to 1990 U.S. Census data. In addition, we reviewed the City of Oakland"s new Equal Access to Services ordinance.

We discovered that the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) already does what other departments do to attract and retain bilingual officers. That is, it offers additional or "bilingual" pay to those who speak a second language and advertises its job openings in the City"s ethnic newspapers.

Notably, the SFPD pays a smaller amount of bilingual pay than most of the jurisdictions surveyed. Presumably, increasing the amount of bilingual pay would attract more bilingual individuals. However, the City should look at the results of pay increases in other jurisdictions before reallocating scarce budget resources.

BACKGROUND

San Francisco has a large and diverse immigrant population. Data from the 1990 U.S. Census shows that San Francisco ranks 4^th amongst major U.S. cities with respect to the percentage of persons foreign-born. From this perspective, it is hardly surprising that 42.4% of San Franciscans speak a second language, according to the census data.

Of the total number of San Franciscans who speak a second language (292,093), the vast majority (167,931) speaks an Asian or Pacific Island language; 75,933 speak Spanish; and 48,229 speak a second language not described by the data.

CURRENT LAW AND PRACTICE

Currently, no single citywide approach exists for recruiting bilingual persons, according to staff at the Department of Human Resources (DHR). Instead recruitment strategies are developed by civil service examination or by departments based on the requirements of their positions. DHR coordinates testing of applicants and employees for bilingual proficiency.

The San Francisco Police Department currently pays "bilingual pay" of $35 biweekly to police officers who successfully meet its language requirements. Most officers are certified by DHR as having proficiency in Spanish, Mandarin and/or Cantonese. In addition, the Department advertises recruitment drives and job openings in the City"s ethnic newspapers, according to police officials.

The Police Department advises that there are currently 2,252 sworn police officers working in San Francisco. Of this amount, 614 officers (or about 27%) speak a second language. However, only 247 of these 614 officers currently receive bilingual pay.¹ The remaining officers have not met the language requirements. Officers who are certified by DHR as having proficiency in other languages may receive bilingual pay when they are called upon to use their skills.

POLICY/ISSUES ANALYSIS

A. What is Dymally-Alatorre?

The Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act, enacted in 1973, seeks to enable all Californians to effectively communicate with their government by overcoming language barriers.² It is important to note that certain provisions of this Act apply to "state agencies", while others apply to "local public agencies." With respect to local public agencies, Dymally-Alatorre states:

"Every local public agency, as defined in Section 54591, serving a substantial number of non-English speaking people, shall employ a sufficient amount of qualified bilingual persons in public contact positions or as interpreters to assist those in such positions, to ensure provision of information and services in the language of the non-English speaking person."

Dymally-Alatorre defines the terms "a substantial number of non-English speaking people" and "a sufficient number of qualified bilingual persons" as they apply to state agencies. However, it does not define them for local public agencies. Instead these determinations are to be made by local public agencies themselves (i.e., the City), according to the text of Dymally-Alatorre.

B. Is San Francisco in compliance with Dymally-Alatorre?

In May of 2001, the Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance (File No. 010409) which, in effect, "implements and supplements" Dymally Alatorre. "A substantial number of limited English speaking persons" as defined in this ordinance means "either 10,000 City residents or 5 percent of those persons who use the Department"s services." Some City departments may already be in compliance with this ordinance (e.g., the Department of Human Services and its staff of bilingual social workers). However, identifying them is beyond the scope of this analysis.

OTHER JURISDICTIONS

We chose to survey the five (5) U.S. cities with the largest percentages of persons who speak a language other than English at home, according to census data.³ In addition, we reviewed the City of Oakland"s new Equal Access to Services ordinance.

· Miami, Florida - The Miami Police Department does not require its officers to speak a second language. However, approximately 600 of its 1,000 sworn police officers speak a second language (predominately Spanish), according to police officials. Presumably, this is because recruits are drawn from the city"s general population, which is largely bilingual.

· Santa Ana, California - Santa Ana pays "a bilingual pay differential" of 5% of base salary pay to sworn police officers and sergeants who successfully meet its language requirements. This differential amounts to between $128 and $258 per month, according to the City"s Personnel Services Department. In addition, all non-sworn employees are paid a bilingual pay differential of $150 per month after successfully meeting the language requirements.

· El Paso, Texas - The El Paso Police Department does not have difficulties recruiting Spanish-speaking police officers. According to police officials, of the Department"s 1,109 sworn police officers, 810 are Hispanic and many of them speak Spanish. The Department advertises its job openings with El Paso"s Spanish-speaking radio, television and newspapers.

· Los Angeles, California - The Los Angeles Police Department pays "bilingual premiums" ranging from 2.75% to 5.5% of base salary pay to sworn police officers who speak and/or write in a language other than English (based on the requirements of the position). The Department"s Recruitment Unit advertises job openings in the city"s ethnic newspapers, according to police officials.

· San Antonio, Texas - Police officers in San Antonio who are fluent in a second language receive $50 per month after passing an exam demonstrating written and conversational ability. According to police officials, there are currently 1,919 sworn police officers working in San Antonio and 539 of them speak a second language. The vast majority (532) speak Spanish. Moreover, police officers receive "educational pay" of $160 or $260 per month for pursuing associate or bachelor degrees (respectively). Presumably, officers may use this pay for language classes.

· Oakland, California - In May of 2001, the City of Oakland approved an ordinance requiring city departments to offer bilingual services and materials if a substantial portion of the public using city services does not speak English effectively. "A substantial portion of the public" refers to "at least 10,000 limited English speaking City residents who speak a shared language other than English." The Oakland Police Department is beginning to develop ways to implement this ordinance, according to police officials.

CONCLUSION

Based on our survey of other jurisdictions, it appears that the San Francisco Police Department already does what other departments do to attract bilingual officers. That is, it offers bilingual pay to officers who speak a second language and advertises its job openings in the City"s ethnic newspapers.

It is important to note that the SFPD pays a smaller amount of bilingual pay than most of the jurisdictions surveyed. The following chart summarizes this finding.

The amount of bilingual pay is negotiated between the City and the San Francisco Police Officers Association. Presumably, increasing the amount of bilingual pay would attract more bilingual individuals. However, the City should look at the results of pay increases in other jurisdictions before reallocating scarce budget resources.

¹ A list of the languages spoken by these 247 officers was not available, as of the writing of this report.

² Sections 7290-7299.8 of the California Government Code.

³ These include Miami (73.3%), Santa Ana (69.2%), El Paso (66.7%), Los Angeles (49.9%) and San Antonio (47.3%). Interestingly, San Francisco ranks 6^th nationwide at 42.5%.