EDUCATION IS KEY FOR BILINGUAL OFFICERS
The two pillars of police work — protect and serve — don’t go far enough for Sgt. Yanira Scarlett, right, one of the Des Moines Police Department’s bilingual police officers. For Sgt. Scarlett and many of her colleagues, education is a key third pillar in their daily interactions with our City’s non-native speakers.
Twenty-five Des Moines police officers receive a $1,000 annual stipend for their bilingual language skills. Besides paying 15 officers for Spanish-speaking skills, the City compensates additional officers for exhibited skills in Lao (4), Tai Dam (2), Bosnian (1), Mandarin Chinese (1), Polish (1), Swahili (1), Burmese (1), and Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines (1). In addition, a probationary officer completing Police Academy course work is fluent in Hindi.
Officer Alberto Marquez is the City’s Hispanic Outreach Neighborhood Resource Advocate (HONRA, which means “honor” in Spanish). Sgt. Doua Lor, the City’s first police sergeant of Southeast Asian descent, pictured first below, is the force’s liaison to the Asian-language-speaking communities. Both are assigned to the Neighborhood-Based Service Delivery team.
As you might expect with shifting immigration practices, Officer Marquez has been on the front line of questions from Spanish-speaking residents. “HONRA and Spanish-speaking officers are working hard to gain trust and reassure the residents,” Officer Marquez told me.
And he has plenty of helping hands for the program now-retired Lt. Joe Gonzalez started in late 2000.
Back to Sgt. Scarlett, who joined the force in 2002. Sgt. Scarlett served as HONRA for several years before being reassigned to the Administrative Service Division. She sits directly behind the police information technicians (PITs) staffing the service windows just inside the department’s main entrance. Here, she can immediately assist Spanish-speaking residents while handling her police records tasks.
The Puerto Rican native puts education for Spanish speakers front and center. “For HONRA officers,” Sgt. Scarlett told me, “our job is to educate. Many Spanish-speaking residents are terrified of being at the police station. I remind crime victims that 1) you can come here safely, 2) you won’t get arrested, 3) you’ll be treated like everyone else, 4) you can build your self-confidence, and 5) the police are here to help you — not hurt you.”
Sgt. Scarlett was quick to lift up the work of civilian department employees attached to DMPD specialized units: Zuleyma “Zuli” Mendez, in the photo above at left, with Sgt. Scarlett; and Belen Ceballos. “If I’m not here,” Sgt. Scarlett told me, “the PITs will ask Zuli or Belen to assist in translating. They lend a hand whenever asked. They are so valued by all officers.”
During COVID, Zuli started Knock and Drop Iowa, a nonprofit food pantry focused on providing grocery items Spanish speakers would find in their homelands. Zuli’s program quickly outgrew her garage and now has an office at Franklin Junior High.
Knock and Drop also supports Spanish speakers in other ways. Early this month, Zuli organized a program to answer immigrant questions. More than 300 attended the evening event, including staff from Mexico’s consulate office in Omaha and local Spanish-speaking police officers.
Sgt. Lor, a Laotian refugee who arrived in 1976 at age 8, is proficient in Hmong, Lao, Tai Dam, Thai, and English. He joined the Des Moines force in 1995 and graduated from the police academy in 1997.
When I met with Sgt. Lor in his office at the Fourmile Community Recreation Center, he told me he is most proud of stepping up to then-Chief Bill McCarthy’s challenge in 2003 to organize the department’s Asian Outreach Program, modeled after the HONORA program. The Asian Outreach Program now includes 14 officers proficient in nine languages.
Award recognitions and newspaper write-ups fill the walls surrounding Sgt. Lor’s office. Two awards jumped out: The National League of Cities’ recognition as one of the nation’s top 17 police departments to serve the immigrant and refugee community and a civil rights award from the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
“I like to be the first to meet with Asian residents at the station who face tragedy,” Sgt. Lor told me. “I want to make sure the family gets taken care of properly.”
And let’s not forget the fire department! Fire Lt. Carlos Oropeza is one of eight Spanish-speaking Des Moines firefighters who receive $600 annual bilingual pay. The 13-year department veteran estimates he uses his Spanish two to five times a month on calls. He is pictured, second below, left, at Station 8, on McKinley Avenue east of Southwest 14th Street, with firefighter Austin Hernandez, who also receives a bilingual stipend.
That is how Fire Lt. Oropeza described a recent Station 8 call to an auto collision. “No one involved spoke English,” the Venezuelan-born Lt. Oropeza told me. “And the police officer didn’t speak Spanish.
“The first thing I said is ‘¿Dìgame, que le esta pasado?’ (Please tell me what is happening to you.) I could just feel the stress going down when I began speaking Spanish. So, I let the family know what is going on. I told them, ‘This is the care we are doing.’ I told the victim everything we’re doing on the way to the emergency room.”
You’ll find Spanish speakers sprinkled about many City departments. Neighborhood Services director Chris Johansen told me his department includes five Spanish speakers, including neighborhood inspectors, zoning enforcement inspectors, property improvement liaisons, and customer service.
“Usually, colleagues call upon these bilingual employees for work in meetings, the office, or the field,” Chris told me. “We also rely on the language line and interpreters, if needed.”
The City of Des Moines language line can access over 150 languages through the United Way of Central Iowa’s 211 service. This free service allows residents to receive 24/7 assistance in multiple languages.
MyDSMmobile APP GETS MORE HITS
See something, say something. Or better yet, report it via the MyDSMmobile app.
With each new year, more residents rely on this handy app to log issues from alley repair to traffic signal issues. In 2024, residents reported 6,946 issues, up from 6,009 in 2023.
Public Works, Engineering, and Neighborhood Services appreciate this reporting. So much of what the city does, from fixing broken traffic signals to clearing stormwater intakes, is driven by complaints from residents.
Not surprisingly, reporting potholes was 2024’s leading issue: 2,012 incidents, encompassing 29 percent of all tickets. Giada Morresi earned the title of 2024 Pothole MVP by reporting 57 potholes, besting Public Works director Jonathan Gano’s 38 reports.
My friend Seth Hall tied for sixth in the 2024 Top 10 Potholes leaderboard (19 reports). He’s now on a tear to do better in 2025, having opened three new tickets in one day last week.
Jonathan told me Public Works aims to patch potholes within 24 to 48 hours of receiving the ticket.
Last year, City staff added two new reporting categories: tall grass and weeds (No. 2, 660 reports, 9.5 percent) and rooster concerns (just a last-place three reports, 0.1 percent). Other leading issues:
Trash – 878 reports (12.6%)
Trees – 626 reports (9.0%)
Snow – 516 reports (7.4%)
Inoperable vehicle on private property – 476 reports (6.9%)
Street sweeper – 455 reports (6.5%)
Graffiti – 411 reports (5.9%)
Stormwater – 173 reports (2.5%)
Alleyway repair – 169 reports (2.4%)
Traffic sign missing – 162 reports (2.3%)
Traffic signal problem – 106 reports (1.5%)
Street light outage – 99 reports (before MidAmerican form swap) (1.4%)
Mosquito control – 95 reports (1.4%)
Work without a permit – 54 reports (0.8%)
Sanitary sewer – 51 reports (0.7%)
MORE BIKE MILES THAN AUTO MILES
Regardless of subzero temperatures, freezing rain, or steamy July afternoons, Andrew Maliar pedals from his home in south suburban Norwalk to his job at the Polk County Administration Building, where he is a records and information technician in the treasurer’s office.
While on my morning run, I routinely see Andrew a few ticks before 7 a.m.; he is on the last leg of his commute along the Meredith Trail or Principal Riverwalk.
Every workday beginning at 5:30 a.m., Andrew throws his leg over one of his reliable bikes (three or four to choose from, depending on the weather) to roll down 14 miles of paved roads, trails, and gravel roads — to which he attributes his average two flat tires a year.
He was out there February 6 in freezing rain, and again on February 12, when Des Moines received 7 or more inches of snow. And this sub-zero week! Many folks stayed inside all day, but not Andrew — the bike commute is like clockwork.
He told me his coldest morning commute was minus-18 degrees Fahrenheit — the actual temperature, not “feels like” — and his hottest trip home was 100 degrees.
Most years, Andrew told me he logs around 10,000 bike miles, including RAGBRAI. “That’s more miles than I drive,” Andrew added.
When I stopped by his office for a photo last week, Andrew reported wearing three layers of cozy winter apparel on his upper body, two layers on his legs, lined boots, and a skier’s helmet and goggles on his commute. Most winter days, he reports his hands stay toasty warm inside wind-protective mitts over the handlebars. It’s hard to believe, but he says he generally wears no gloves in winter! (This week’s weather called for light gloves.)
“I was biking to work two or three days a week before COVID,” Andrew told me, “but then, I started biking every day after COVID hit. I’ve stuck with it. I don’t think I’ve missed a day of biking to work since early 2020.”
Some summer mornings, he says, “It’s so nice that I add a couple of miles biking through Water Works Park on my way to the office.” During those spring and summer mornings, when the sun appears on the horizon, he told me two songs were on his playlist: “Aria,” by Yanni, and “One Perfect Sunrise,” by Orbital. Ride on, Andrew!
TAI DAM COMMUNITY CELEBRATES LUNAR NEW YEAR
Nheune and Tom Baccam were among the Tai Dam community members celebrating the Lunar New Year festivities on Saturday evening. Nheune proudly displays her colorful silk shawl, below left, traditionally worn as a headdress, an essential part of Tai Dam apparel. More than 200 members of the Tai Dam community participated in the festivities at the United Steelworkers Union Hall at 125 NW Broadway. Pe Luong, Theui Baccam, and Pharphet Luong beat three drums, below right, to intensify the evening’s entertainment.
This year in Iowa, expect many celebrations from the Tai Dam, Hmong, Laotian, Vietnamese, and Cambodian communities: Their arrival in Iowa occurred 50 years ago this summer and fall, thanks to the humanitarian efforts by then-Iowa Governor Robert D. Ray.
It’s hard to imagine Des Moines without these proud citizens.
NEW AT THE ZOO: NO INTERFERING WITH ANIMALS
Most news outlets overlooked the final item on the City Council’s January 27 agenda: banning interfering with animals at the Blank Park Zoo. The zoo’s director, Anne Shimerdla, had asked for an update to the appropriate City ordinance.
What was behind all of this? I wondered, and I represent the City on the Blank Park Zoo Foundation.
Think: social media.
Last summer, a zoo visitor scaled the fencing around three Eastern black rhinoceroses and videoed himself with them. And, of course, the person posted the “experience” on social media. Fortunately, neither animal nor human was harmed during the production of that unauthorized video.
A few days later, a second visitor attempted to imitate the experience; fortunately, zoo staff saw the first (and only) social media post and were on alert. They detained the … let’s call this person an individual … until police arrived.
But since neither incident was a chargeable offense, the second interloper was released after a stern warning. And there was nothing to deter further copycats.
You would think that people would know enough to avoid being in the same enclosure with such an adult behemoth — with a horn — that can weigh up to 3,000 pounds! But evidently, common sense wasn’t enough. So the ordinance, which the Council approved, now states:
(1) No person, other than as designated by the A.H. Blank Park Zoo Director, shall enter or attempt to enter, tamper with, or damage the fencing and other barriers of the animal enclosures at A.H. Blank Park Zoo.
(2) No person shall cross, attempt to cross, or put themselves, their body parts, or other individuals across any safety barriers at A.H. Blank Park Zoo intended to prevent the animals from coming into contact with the general public.
(3) No person shall place or throw any object(s) into any exhibit, at animals, or into the animal enclosures at A.H. Blank Park Zoo.
(4) No person shall feed or attempt to feed any animal at the A.H. Blank Park Zoo other than as designated by the A.H. Blank Park Zoo Director.
(5) No person shall provoke, agitate, or attempt to provoke or agitate any of the animals at the A.H. Blank Park Zoo by making unreasonable sounds, gestures, or movements or by using any object to touch the animals.
The Council approved the ordinance update.
