The Justice Department has reached a resolution agreement with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) in California. This resolves an inquiry into whether ACSO complies with its nondiscrimination obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
As part of the agreement, ACSO will take several steps to improve language access for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). Title VI prohibits entities receiving federal financial assistance from discriminating based on race, color, and national origin. Differential treatment based on language spoken can constitute national origin discrimination under Title VI.
“The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is committed to ensuring that our nation’s law enforcement agencies can serve and protect everyone in their communities, regardless of whether they may have limited English proficiency,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Through this agreement, Alameda County Sheriff’s Office has demonstrated its commitment to and has taken major steps toward improving services to the communities it serves.”
The department's inquiry into ACSO began after concerns were raised that individuals with LEP might not receive adequate language services during encounters with ACSO personnel.
Under this agreement, ACSO will establish a formal language access directive, designate an LEP Coordinator within its personnel, provide staff training on language assistance, improve quality controls for accurate and quality-assessed language services, and undergo departmental monitoring.
This initiative is part of the department's Law Enforcement Language Access Initiative (LELAI), aimed at helping law enforcement agencies overcome language barriers. Led by the Civil Rights Division, LELAI offers technical assistance resources and tools for state and local law enforcement to provide meaningful language access to individuals with LEP. It also engages law enforcement agencies seeking to review or strengthen their language access policies and fosters connections between these agencies, community stakeholders, and LEP populations.
More information about the Civil Rights Division is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Information about limited English proficiency and Title VI can be found at www.lep.gov. Details on LELAI are available at www.lep.gov/law-enforcement. The public may report possible civil rights violations at civilrights.justice.gov/report/.