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Publications [ main Publications page | Order Printed Copies ]   Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader.     Overcoming Language Barriers in the Criminal Justice System: Can Language Assistance Technology Help? Insha Rahman, Joe Hirsch, Susan Shah Download now  PDF: 49 KB/12 pages published: September 2007   Justice agencies, especially those with limited resources, may not always be able to overcome all language barriers through bilingual staff. Ideally, agencies would be able to draw upon several language assistance options when communicating with individuals who do not speak English well. One of these options could be language assistance technology. This report chronicles key discussions that emerged during a roundtable event convened and hosted by the Vera Institute in March 2007. Criminal justice agency staff and other attendees at the roundtable learned about language assistance technologies in development and in use and discussed the potential applications for such technologies in New York City’s justice system.     Vera Institute of Justice: A Brochure About Vera Download now  PDF: 856 KB/6 pages published: September 2007   The Vera Institute of Justice combines expertise in research, demonstration projects, and technical assistance to help leaders in government and civil society improve the systems people rely on for justice and safety.     Legal Rights Presentation Vera Institute of Justice, Legal Orientation Program Download now  PDF: 159 KB/11 pages published: September 2007   This script of the Legal Orientation Program presentation serves as a basic introduction to the immigration court process. Using a question and answer format, it covers topics such as your rights in immigration court, what will happen during hearings, and the various forms of relief from removal. This script is available in English, Arabic, French, Korean, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, and Vietnamese.     Translating Justice: A Spanish Glossary for New York City Download now  PDF: 280 KB/50 pages published: June 2007   The Vera Institute of Justice has developed glossaries in Spanish and traditional Chinese to serve as a resource for interpreters, translators, and bilingual staff at New York City’s justice and public safety agencies, courts, and nonprofit organizations. We hope the use of these glossaries will improve limited English proficient New Yorkers’ access to justice and will assist interpreters, translators, and bilingual staff in providing vital oral and written communication to the city’s residents. The glossary includes 640 legal and criminal justice words and phrases used in New York courts, justice agencies, and nonprofit organizations. For easy use, the terms are organized both alphabetically and in the following categories: agency names, court proceedings & sentencing, detention & corrections, drugs & weapons, juvenile justice, law enforcement & investigations, penal law & offenses, and probation & parole.     Translating Justice: A Traditional Chinese Glossary for New York City Download now  PDF: 553 KB/50 pages published: June 2007   The Vera Institute of Justice has developed glossaries in Spanish and traditional Chinese to serve as a resource for interpreters, translators, and bilingual staff at New York City’s justice and public safety agencies, courts, and nonprofit organizations. We hope the use of these glossaries will improve limited English proficient New Yorkers’ access to justice and will assist interpreters, translators, and bilingual staff in providing vital oral and written communication to the city’s residents. The glossary includes 640 legal and criminal justice words and phrases used in New York courts, justice agencies, and nonprofit organizations. For easy use, the terms are organized both alphabetically and in the following categories: agency names, court proceedings & sentencing, detention & corrections, drugs & weapons, juvenile justice, law enforcement & investigations, penal law & offenses, and probation & parole.     Overcoming Language Barriers: Solutions for Law Enforcement Susan Shah, Insha Rahman, Anita Khashu Download now  PDF: 782 KB/20 pages published: March 2007   With immigration in the U.S. growing and increasingly dispersed, many law enforcement practitioners are looking for ways to improve contact with people who cannot speak or understand English well. This report is the work of Translating Justice, a technical assistance project involving Vera’s Center on Immigration and Justice and three diverse law enforcement agencies—the Anaheim Police Department in California, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in Nevada. Drawing upon the experiences of these three departments, this report offers a range of practical steps and strategies that agencies can adopt, according to their specific needs and available resources.   Read the Executive Summary     Law Enforcement and Arab American Community Relations After September 11, 2001: Engagement in a Time of Uncertainty Nicole J. Henderson, Christopher W. Ortiz, Naomi F. Sugie, and Joel Miller Download now  PDF: 323 KB/41 pages published: June 2006   Vera's two-year study of relations between Arab Americans and law enforcement in the United States following September 11, 2001 found, among other things, that Arab Americans fear the intrusion of federal policies and practices even more than individual acts of hate or violence, and that many local police are reluctant to enforce immigration law. The report identifies examples of partnerships and innovations that have successfully bridged gaps identified in the study. It cites recommendations and opportunities for restoring trust and creating alliances to reduce crime and address terrorism and other public safety concerns. The study was funded by the National Institute of Justice.   Read the Executive Summary     Law Enforcement and Arab American Community Relations After September 11, 2001: Technical Report Nicole J. Henderson, Christopher W. Ortiz, Naomi F. Sugie, and Joel Miller Download now  PDF: 893 KB/184 pages published: June 2006   This technical report accompanies the summary report of Vera's two-year study of relations between Arab Americans and law enforcement in the United States following September 11, 2001. The study found, among other things, that Arab Americans fear the intrusion of federal policies and practices even more than individual acts of hate or violence, and that many local police are reluctant to enforce immigration law. The report identifies examples of partnerships and innovations that have successfully bridged gaps identified in the study. It cites recommendations and opportunities for restoring trust and creating alliances to reduce crime and address terrorism and other public safety concerns. The study was funded by the National Institute of Justice.     Building Strong Police-Immigrant Community Relations: Lessons from a New York City Project Anita Khashu, Robin Busch, Zainab Latif, and Francesca Levy Download now  PDF: 842 KB/38 pages published: August 2005   In 2004, the New York City Police Department and the Vera Institute of Justice collaborated on a series of forums to strengthen relations between police and new immigrant communities. The organizers recognized that because immigrants interact with law enforcement in a variety of ways, regular channels of communication and mutual understanding are essential to building trust and conflict resolution. During the forums, representatives of Arab-American, African, and emerging Latin-American immigrant communities met with police officials to discuss issues affecting their communities. This report describes the lessons learned from the resulting discussions and is intended as a guide for other police departments, local-level government officials, and community groups interested in building better relations between police and immigrant communities.   Read the Executive Summary     Translating Justice: A Guide for New York City's Justice and Public Safety Agencies to Improve Access for Residents with Limited English Proficiency Anita Khashu and Cari Almo Download now  PDF: 134 KB/31 pages published: June 2005   In recent years, New York City has experienced unprecedented growth in the size and diversity of its immigrant population. As a result, a significant proportion of city residents have limited English proficiency or do not speak English at all. Finding ways to overcome language barriers is an emerging field, and New York City criminal and juvenile justice agencies have made great strides in addressing the needs of people with limited English proficiency. To help these agencies continue to develop cost-effective strategies for tackling language barriers, staff from the Vera Institute of Justice spoke with agencies and organizations locally and across the nation to discuss ways in which they have improved access to services for people with limited English proficiency. The resulting report, Translating Justice, is a summary of diverse efforts to bridge the language gap. It is intended as a guide for New York City criminal and juvenile justice agencies, which includes language access planning; translation of written communications; using bilingual employees; using professional interpreters; pooling resources; and using technology to overcome language barriers.   Read the Executive Summary     Sueños, Bandas y Pistolas: La Interacción entre la Violencia Adolescente y la Inmigración en un Vecindario de la ciudad de Nueva York Pedro Mateu-Gelabert Download now  PDF: 299 KB/45 pages published: January 2004   Para prevenir la violencia entre los adolescentes, debemos entender sus causas. Este informe se basa en un trabajo de campo realizado durante cinco años en una comunidad inmigrante de la ciudad de Nueva York con la intención de describir cómo el salto generacional que separa a los adolescente de sus padres, ampliado por la inmigración, lleva a estos adolescentes a confiar en grupos violentos de compañeros para su protección. Investigaciones anteriores han explicado la violencia adolescente entre los inmigrantes como resultado de la alienación cultural, pero esta investigación sugiere que gran parte de la violencia entre los inmigrantes es una respuesta pragmática a las condiciones del vecindario. Una vez que estos adolescentes dejan sus vecindarios o las amenazas a su seguridad desaparecen, generalmente ponen fin a su relación con amigos violentos. Esta publicación está también disponible en inglés. This publication is also available in English.   Read the Executive Summary     Racial Profiling Police Assessment Resource Center (PARC) Download now  PDF: 36 KB/13 pages published: May 2002   This paper from the Police Assessment Resource Center (PARC) discusses the disparate impact of our criminal justice system on racial and ethnic minorities and suggests some new ways to analyze the troublesome issue.     Dreams, Gangs, and Guns: The Interplay Between Adolescent Violence and Immigration in a New York City Neighborhood Pedro Mateu-Gelabert Download now  PDF: 209 KB/41 pages published: April 2002   To prevent violence among adolescents, we must understand its causes. This report draws on five years of field work in an immigrant community in New York City to describe how the generation gap separating immigrant adolescents from their parents, made wider by immigration, leads these children to rely on violent peer groups for protection. Previous research has tried to explain adolescent violence among immigrants in terms of cultural alienation, but this research suggests that much violence among immigrant adolescents is a pragmatic response to neighborhood conditions. Once these adolescents leave their neighborhoods or the threats to their safety disappear, they generally end their involvement with violent peers. This publication is also available in Spanish. Esta publicación está también disponible en español.   Read the Executive Summary     Testing Community Supervision for the INS: An Evaluation of the Appearance Assistance Program Eileen Sullivan, Felinda Mottino, Ajay Khashu, and Moira O'Neil Download now  PDF: 253 KB/82 pages published: August 2000   In 1996, the Immigration and Naturalization Service asked Vera to establish a supervised release project for people in removal proceedings in New York City. The INS goal was the explore supervision and evaluate its effect on people's rates of appearance in court and compliance with court ruling compared to other alternatives to detention already used by the agency, such as bond, parole, and release on recognizance. The Appearance Assistance Program (AAP), a three year test of community supervision for people in immigration removal proceedings, began operating in February 1997, and closed in March 2000. The AAP demonstrated that the INS does not have to detain all noncitizens in removal proceedings to ensure high rates of appearance at immigration court hearings. Ninety-one percent of participants in the intensive program attended all required hearings in comparison to 71% of noncitizens released on bond or parole. Among this report's other findings: supervision is more cost effective than detention and AAP supervision almost doubled the rate of compliance with final orders.   Read the Executive Summary     The Appearance Assistance Program: An Alternative to Detention for Noncitizens in U.S. Immigration Removal Proceedings Oren Root Download now  PDF: 37 KB/9 pages published: May 2000   In this speech, Appearance Assistance Program (AAP) director Oren Root places the AAP in the context of U.S. immigration enforcement policy and discusses the AAP's success as an alternative to detention for noncitizens in removal proceedings.   Read the Executive Summary     The Appearance Assistance Program: Attaining Compliance with Immigration Laws through Community Supervision Megan Golden, Oren Root and David Mizner Download now  PDF: 123 KB/17 pages published: September 1998   This booklet describes the Appearance Assistance Program, highlighting innovative strategies designed to increase compliance.   Read the Executive Summary     Back to top

Improving Cooperation Between Police and Arab-American Communities Legal Orientation for Immigrant Detainees Strengthening Relations between Police and Immigrants Translating Justice Unaccompanied Children Project project archive

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