The Bakersfield Police Department first made videos that feature their officers for "Honor Peace Officer Week" in May, and the series was so successful they decided to continue the videos once a week.
It's part of a national campaign called "Why I Wear the Badge." In Bakersfield, officers submit their personal stories to the department. Once a week, BPD plans to publish a video featuring the different officers and what makes them unique. The goal is to humanize police.
"They're not jus robots putting on the same badge, but they're really taking home that stuff at the end of the day. And the people they come in contact with in their community really mean a lot to them," said Kelsey Taylor of BPD.
Wednesday at 6 p.m., BPD will release a video featuring Sandeep Malhi, an officer who is bilingual. Officer Malhi speaks Punjabi, one of two main languages in Indian culture. Malhi says when he gets calls about people who need help who speak Punjabi, he is able to bridge the language gap and make victims feel more comfortable.
"I'm able to obviously break the language barrier between the police department and individuals who might need assistance," Malhi said.
BPD says Malhi's video will be released in both English and Punjabi, with the hopes of reaching a more diverse group of people. The department says they hope to create more bilingual videos in the future.
