 Chicago's Latino population is on the rise with an influx of people from countries well beyond just Mexico. They are the immigrants from Central and South America. They represent more than a dozen different countries and cultures but they share the same desire, a desire to build better lives for themselves and their families. Hello I'm Chaplain Dean with the Chicago Police Department. This is another in a series of videos to expand your knowledge and understanding of the many diverse communities within our city. Having even a basic knowledge of a person's customs and culture enables police officers to conduct their duties in a more efficient and respectful manner. Today we look at Chicago's Central and South American communities. You have a lot of immigrants that come into this country with the same mentality as any other person, any Mexican, any you know cube and anyone else, the mentality to grow, to be able to have the American dream to own property, to be able to give back to their family. You come from El Salvador, from Costa Rica, from Honduras, from Panama. I'm finding more and more people from those countries you know Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras. There are other some other countries but in Chicago it's mostly Guatemala and Ecuador who are coming here. There are immigrants from all the Central American countries but by far the largest group comes from Guatemala. There are more than 80,000 Guatemalans in Chicago. They're looking for any opportunity they have. If they have to go do dishes, landscaping, work in a factory, they look for family obviously and friends from the neighborhood or friends from the same village to try to network with them and try to find resources that way that they can help them find employment right away. Ecuadorians represent the largest South American population in Chicago. They told us this was a place to come over to Chicago because there was so much opportunity in terms of work and just education. You know so we decided to sell our houses in Ecuador and we migrated here just to stay here. Central and South America organizations in Chicago say census numbers don't give an accurate account of the immigrant population here. Salvadorans are one example of this. People registering for the census so here the census says that it's only about 600 Salvadorians but we know as a fact because of the people we serve in Central Romero plus the consulate of El Salvador. It is about 60,000 Salvadorians. Central Romero is an advocacy center that works with Latinos from all over South and Central America. We like feel like you are from Colombia, you are from Ecuador, we feel comfortable because we know like we have something in common. These are different countries and so people have some differences also in terms of language, there are linguistic differences, there are differences in terms of food, in terms of music that people prefer to listen to. There are many traditions and very similar like any other Latin American country. Family being number one, sometimes other cultures might look it as excessive even because they're very very close. Family goes beyond anything and everything. Not all people from Central and South America speak Spanish. Brazilians for example speak Portuguese and then there are indigenous languages. There's areas in Guatemala that don't speak Spanish at all. You go in certain areas and you talk Spanish you would think they would talk back to you and they don't understand Spanish. So the indigenous who are migrating to the city are learning Spanish. Guatemala has like more than 25 ethnic groups with their own traditions and their own customs. And even within the Spanish speaking groups there are a multitude of different dialects. So a Spanish speaking immigrant from Bolivia for example may not understand a Spanish speaking police officer from Chicago. Be sensitive that we are not the same even though we do speak Spanish. Still a lot of them speak their dialect. The majority of Central and South American people are Catholic. Many blend Catholicism with native rituals. And there's some candles, there's altars and you know we're very big and also in the same. They have altars, sometimes they have figures of the Virgin Mary or sometimes of Jesus. They carry maybe the little red beans which are little sacks with red beans and black beans in it and rice which is and sometimes they foil it in aluminum. So when you first look at it you think are there drugs in there and what it is sometimes is they carry that to fend off bad spirits. Amuletas or good luck pieces may be worn or tucked into undergarments. A lot of people carry like a little bag with a picture and a little incense and a little stone. That's like a circulate. Just this is your lucky charm. And some people say oh what is that? And they want to open it and see if there's no drugs. But it's something that it's for your own protection, your own spirit. This is a bag of ruta. It's an herb that could easily be mistaken for marijuana. Ruta can be purchased in stores in the Latin American community. It is sometimes carried in small pouches or stored in containers within homes. So people have like a little herbs and little bottles like Coca-Cola bottles. They have these herbs in the corners of the house. It's to bring the spirits in and say that we're fine, that we're doing okay. It's to bless our house. If somebody come in and break your spirit house when if you're very religious it's like it's like if somebody come to your house and break your ashes of your own ant. Right? It's very disturbing and people get upset about those things. People coming from rural areas of Central and South America may also have machetes in their homes or their cars. Machetes are common farming tools. When interacting with people from Central and South American countries, Chicago police should keep in mind many of these people may be extremely fearful of police. There is a feeling of the distrust because in the police institution there is high level of corruption. I believe people that just barely got here, you know, they don't know the language. So I believe they feel fearful of the police, which I felt before when I was growing up. Others think Chicago police may have negative stereotypes about people from parts of Latin America. Colombians, for example, think they are often perceived as being involved in narcotics trafficking. The media has portrayed Colombian as drug dealer and terrorism coming from a dangerous country in a stable political system. If Chicago police department overcome, they will find people are good with good ethical values, good ethical moral, with high professional skills. And people from Central and South America may also be insulted if police make an assumption that if they look Hispanic or speak Spanish, they must be from Mexico. In the beginning when they would ask me where you from and I say, oh, I'm from Ecuador, people would say, what part of Mexico is that? And they take a lot of pride in being Guatemalan or Undurian or Salvadorian to take a lot of pride in that. That's all they have sometimes. They may not have wealth, but they have that pride. All of the people we encounter on a daily basis expect to be treated with dignity and respect. The people from Central and South America are no exception. It is our hope that this video will serve to enlighten and foster a new awareness and understanding. Thanks for watching. And as always, stay safe.