Adapting Police Services to New Immigration

Latino immigration to the Midwest has had a significant impact on police-community relations, particularly, in smaller communities historically unaccustomed to diverse ethnic groups. This book describes the experiences of law enforcement agencies in three Mid-Missouri communities and their efforts to adapt to their changing demographics while maintaining current relations with the majority population. The findings reveal that the relationship between law enforcement and the majority communities was positive and supportive. There were several challenges, however, to the development of a cooperative police-Latino relationship. These included the language barrier, fear of the police, immigration issues and the nature of contacts between the police and Latino community.