New Orleans has seen an influx of Hispanic workers since Hurricane Katrina; and more often lately, Police Chief Warren Riley said some of those workers have been victims or suspects in crimes.

WWL-TV

Lt. Hurban said he still hasn't mastered his accent yet.

Those recent developments have the department attempting to bridge the language barrier by learning Spanish.

With 35 years on the force, Lt. George Hurban didn't think he had much more to learn. But as the city has changed post-Katrina, it has this veteran NOPD officer learning new things.

As more Hispanics migrated to the city for labor after the storm, many officers said they felt inadequate when dealing with the changing population.

"When they would start talking amongst each other we had no idea what they were saying and it could make for some tense moments you just felt completely out of it at that point,” Hurban said.

That's when the Regional Counterdrug Training Academy was brought in. 32 officers learned key words and phrases in Spanish to better equip them for responding to different situations.

Just last week, officers were called to a shooting that involved a migrant worker and Sgt. Bruce Glaudi said he has used this new tactic in crime fighting as well.

“If you see somebody suspious, you say 'venga' (‘come here’) or if coming to close 'alto' which is ‘stop,’ and ‘hands up,’ which is 'manos arriba,’” Glaudi said.

Officer Matt Patin said only a handful of policemen could deal with problems within the Hispanic community before the classes began.

With the high demand for these courses, police officers have requested advance classes and the academy has even incorporated it in their curriculum.

“We saw a need to teach elementary Spanish to police officers just so they can communicate with the people they deal with on a regular basis,” said NOPD Commander Ernest Demma.

Hurban said he gets to practice three times a week on the night shift in the Third District, but there's one thing in the Spanish language he finds hard to conquer: his accent.

“It’s still got a bit of Louisiana in it but you still get through it to Spanish,” Hurban said.

The NOPD brass said they want more officers to learn basic Spanish, and so they're planning to offer another course