Diversity and cultural exchange

Check out the Daily Herald and who got his photo at the top of the article! Thanks!!!

http://dailyherald.com/story/?id=411659

There will be additional articles coming from the Daily Herald about Monday night's interviews with the candidates for Sheriff of McHenry County in the November 2 general election.

We touched on diversity and the cultural exchange program, and I suspect that the DH will be reporting on that. They may omit a story I told, so here it is.

In 1992 I was on my way from Denver to Belize and stayed at a hotel in Mexico City with my brother, who was a plant engineer for PPG Industries. When his local manager and he picked me up the next morning, I had been watching a heated exchange between a driver and a police officer over a parking ticket.

It had gone on and on for about 45 minutes, with the driver waving his arms, pacing around the old car, walking onto the sidewalk and back into the street. I think the guy finally got off without a ticket. What was different, and what's important for American cops (and McHenry County deputies and local cops) to understand, is how the culture in Mexico apparently allows for that without rattling or insulting the cop.

What would have happened in McHenry County? The driver probably would have been face down on the hood of his car for 40 minutes, with his hands cuffed behind him.

How can McHenry County deputies learn about the culture of the growing population of Mexican and Latino residents here? From stories like mine. They don't need a two-week vacation in Mexican on the taxpayers' dime to learn this. It's called "in-service training." Right here in McHenry County. Coming to a classroom near you soon.