POLICE BOOKS - Spanish Language Resources

Joe Blanco is a retired police officer from the Greensboro Police Department (North Carolina). After retiring from the Greensboro Police Department, he became a Security Operations Manager for the Department of Homeland Security. He is the author of three books for law enforcement and other emergency services personnel on Spanish: Survival Street Spanish for Police Officers; Survival Street Spanish for EMS/Fire Personnel; and, Survival Street Spanish for 911 Telecommunications.

Lieutenant Jacquelyn MacConnell joined the Phoenix Police Department in 1994. During her career she worked as a patrol officer, undercover detective and in the Phoenix Police Department Training Bureau. While assigned to the Training Bureau, in addition to teaching tactical courses, she initiated a Spanish language program for police officers. After leaving the Training Bureau, she became a detective working in the Sex Crimes Unit. Currently, Lieutenant Jacquelyn MacConnell supervises patrol squads Maryvale Precinct of the Phoenix Police Department.

Lieutenant Jacquelyn MacConnell completed the Arizona POST General Instructor Course in 1996. She is also an Arizona POST certified Defensive Tactics, Firearms, High Risk Vehicle Stops, and Spanish Instructor; and holds other instructor certifications. She is a regular instructor at the Arizona Law Enforcement Academy, specializing in Defensive Tactics and Spanish. Lieutenant Jacquelyn MacConnell has an undergraduate degree in criminal justice and Masters in Educational Leadership.

Lieutenant Jacquelyn MacConnell is the author of Basic Spanish For Police Officers By A Police Officer. According to her book description, “The author is not a Spanish professor but wrote this book focusing on terminology that will be understood on the street. The book contains closed ended questions for a variety of investigations including assault/domestic violence, robbery, stolen vehicles, burglary, drug possession/sales cases, traffic stops, traffic accidents. The most important part of this book is the high risk stop/contact commands. This book is written for the officers who have little to no understanding/knowledge of the Spanish language, as well as offering information to those who do have a basic understanding/knowledge of Spanish. It is the author's desire that this book allow officers to conduct their jobs safer.”

According to the book description of The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Spanish for Law Enforcement Professionals, “Learning Spanish is vital to performing many public services, include police work and other law-enforcement professions. Police, patrollers, detectives, and corrections, parole, court and security officers who interact with Spanish- speaking people need this specialized, easy-to-use guide to help them communicate and sometimes translate quickly and effectively—anywhere. From expert authors with experience in Spanish language instruction for law enforcement officials; Essential phrases—including Miranda rights—and vocabulary for patrol, investigations, emergency situations, narcotics, corrections, and more; Easy-to-use phonetic translations; and, Useful information on Latino culture and street Spanish.”

Robert Dent is a 29 year law enforcement veteran and a recently retired Oregon State Police Senior Trooper. He has served in the Criminal, Narcotic and Patrol divisions of the Oregon State Police and is the Founder and President of the Constable Group, Inc. which is a privately held corporation that conducts training seminars and publishes language and communication training manuals, videos and educational materials for public safety and educational facilities, as well as private companies and corporations involved with executive protection, counter-terrorism and industrial security. He is also the author of: The Complete Spanish Field Reference Manual for Public Safety Professionals; The Multi-Lingual Field Manual for Public Safety Professionals; and, Silent Universal Signals for Public Safety and Education Professionals. He is also the co-author of 18 Silent Universal Signals for School Safety.

Lou Savelli, who has spent all of his 23 years in law enforcement in the streets, is one of the most decorated officers in NYPD history and has received over 100 medals for bravery, outstanding police work, life saving rescues, and record setting investigations. He retired in 2004 as the Detective Squad Commander of the NYPD's Terrorism Interdiction Unit, which he co-founded after 9-11-01 as a proactive counter-terrorism investigative unit responsible to aggressively seek out and investigate terrorist cells in New York.

Lou Savelli was chosen as one of the top 10 of NYPD's most effective leaders of all ranks (out of nearly 20,000 qualified supervisors) and the first supervisor featured in NYPD's Leadership Training School newsletter because of his innovation and success in the field of leadership. He created NYPD's first citywide gang unit called CAGE (Citywide Anti Gang Enforcement) which was awarded the National Gang Crime Research Center's award for The Most Effective Gang Unit in the US. Lou Savelli is the author of eight books in the “Pocket Guide Series:” Guide to Basic Crime Scene Investigation; Gangs Across American and the Symbols; Graffiti Pocket Guide; Street Drugs Pocket Guide; Practical Spanish for Law Enforcement; Identity Theft; Cop Jokes; and A Proactive Law Enforcement Guide for the War on Terror.

According to the description of Practical Spanish for Law Enforcement, law enforcement officers “frequently come in contact with people who don’t speak English. The most common language encountered, by far, is Spanish. The Pocket Guide to Spanish for Law Enforcement Officers offers the most common conversational and command situations encountered by law enforcement officers and provides an easy to use Spanish translation. This handy pocket-sized reference deals with: traffic stops arrest situations correction situations medical aid travel directions standardized field sobriety test Miranda warnings and more.”