11. The Madrina-Padrino Public Safety Project
Agency: | Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association (HAPCOA) |
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Website: | http://www.hapcoa.org/mpp/index.php?doc=description |
Date of Program: | 2004 |
11.1 Introduction
HAPCOA's Madrina-Padrino Public Safety Project (MPPSP) is a pilot educational program on traffic and traffic safety, developed with support from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and NHTSA. It educates providers at community-based organizations who in turn can educate recent Hispanic immigrants whom they serve.
11.2 Summary
The MPPSP seeks to involve the whole community, including law enforcement, to focus on educating the Latino community, or one segment of the whole. The goals are to increase
- Understanding of traffic safety laws and enforcement among a small group of intermediaries that serve recently arrived Latino immigrants
- Capacity of intermediaries to deliver educational trainings to recently arrived Latino immigrants
- Understanding of the traffic safety needs of intermediaries and recent Latino immigrants among law enforcement officers in order to improve relations between the two groups
Just as a Latino child's madrina (godmother) and padrino (godfather) ensure the child's safety, the MPPSP relies on individuals and organizations to serve as madrinas and padrinos to ensure the community's safety and to counsel, advocate for and strengthen families in the pursuit of greater public safety.
The pilot test sites are Los Angeles, San Antonio and Tucson. These were selected because they have large Hispanic populations, including many recent immigrants.
11.3 Questions answered
What are the best "media" for getting the messages across?
Media outreach strategies include:
- Publishing feature stories in Hispanic newspapers to create interest and build trust between the Hispanic community and law enforcement
- Using Hispanic newspapers and radio to promote the education and training to be offered by community-based organizations
- Securing TV news coverage of training
Which Hispanic groups should be targeted and why?
The MPPSP targets recent immigrants.
11.4 Outstanding questions
In what pedestrian and bicycle safety-related areas is communication with Hispanic audiences most needed?
The MPPSP is about traffic safety in general, so pedestrian and bicycle safety is not singled out.
What types of messages are most likely to have the most impact?
The project description does not discuss specific types of messages.
Which age groups of Hispanics should be targeted and why?
The project description does not mention any specific age groups.
Should different cultural groups be targeted and why?
The MPPSP does not explicitly target different cultural groups, but the Hispanic population of the project sites – Los Angeles, Tucson and San Antonio – is primarily Mexican.
Should materials be presented just in Spanish, or in English and Portuguese as well?
The project description does not mention whether training and outreach will be in Spanish only, or in both Spanish and English. It does not mention Portuguese.