Periagoge
Scenario

When police departments hire cultural liaisons but expect them to defend rather than reform

Our police department brought me in as a cultural liaison to help bridge relationships with the Latino community, but the other officers keep asking me to explain or defend community members' reactions during encounters, and I'm caught between being seen as disloyal by my colleagues or ineffective by my community. We're all supposed to be working toward the same goal of better policing, but it feels like I'm being asked to translate trauma instead of address its causes.

More people experience this than they realize.

What we've seen

A cultural bridge-builder in policing finds themselves translating between worlds rather than transforming the system they were meant to improve.

Your guide for this
Juana
Juana works with people navigating exactly this kind of situation.
Ideas that help explain it
Worth thinking about

“Where Are You with Policing across cultures?”

Peri

Peri can explain why this happens, help you decide if this is the right situation for you, and point toward the right journey or coach.

If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.