TAMPA BAY, FLORIDA- According to TPD, all their social media as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are now available to the Hispanic community in Spanish with the handle @PoliciaDeTampa.
According to the TPD’s Hispanic liaison, Detective Rose Angelakopoulos, “It’s so important to be able to communicate directly to the Spanish community, and one of the ways is to provide information in their language.”
According to TPD, this decision was made to help and keep the community safer and feel more connected as more than 30% of Tampa’s population speak Spanish as their first language.
The Hispanic Service council said, “Having the ability to create pages that are going to share information as that’s going to help the community thrive and be safe- and be able to understand what’s going on so they can be better informed about the decisions that they make- it’s essential.”
Building trust among the officers and the Hispanic community is what the Tampa Police Department hopes for, according to the Department.
Angelopoulos said, “Whenever you talk to someone in their native language they just feel a little more comfort and that they can trust you.”