Police in Saint John are premiering a series of multilingual videos to help newcomers through interactions with law enforcement.
Launched on Thursday in English and Arabic, the videos cover topics like when and how to use 911 services, what to do when you’re pulled over and how to handle domestic abuse situations.
Produced in partnership with the Saint John Newcomers Centre and Crime Prevention Association of New Brunswick, the videos made their debut at Police Headquarters on Thursday.
It’s part of an effort by Saint John Police Force to keep up with a diversifying population.
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Const. Don Metcalfe has been teaching classes for newcomers on these topics, but thinks an online resource will work better.
“It was very overwhelming to them,” he says. “They were getting nothing out of it because there were four interpreters going at once, 40 to 60 people in a small classroom… it wasn’t working.”
Kobra Haidari, a newcomer herself, looks forward to the expansion of the resource in the New Year.
“Because most newcomers, as I know, they come from insecure country and they haven’t had good experience with police,” Haidari says.
“I hope we’ll see it in other languages too, because newcomers still have difficulty to speak English.”
The videos are live on the police force website now, with Mandarin versions coming soon and French expected early in
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