How translators help Fairfield police investigate crimes

Police are still piecing together what happened at the El Centanario on Dixie Highway in Fairfield, Ohio around 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Six people were stabbed, and shots were fired but nobody was hit. Many of the bar's patrons were Hispanic or Latino. Language can be a barrier to the investigation of crimes in cases like that, but Fairfield police were lucky to have officers on hand who spoke Spanish. With people of so many other nationalities coming to the area, police often turn to outside linguists for help. In some cases, investigators have to rely on a friend of a suspect or victim, but Fairfield Police Officer Doug Day said that can be unreliable.