There are No Spanish-Speaking 911 Operators in Territory; Senators Temporarily Blocked VITEMA Official From Testifying for Lying

It was revealed during the second block of the Committee of Homeland Security, Justice and Public Safety hearing Wednesday that there are currently no Spanish speaking 9-1-1 operators at the territory's 9-1-1 Emergency Call Centers, a revelation that infuriated senators as they contended it presents a huge problem for the Spanish-speaking community.  Senator Franklin Johnson noted that according to the testimony of Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency Director, Daryl Jaschen, it is not a requirement to be bilingual to become a 9-1-1 operator. Mr. Johnson then asked whether there was anyone that is currently part of the 9-1-1 dispatcher unit that is bilingual, to which Mr. Jaschen said there were none. (It was later revealed that an individual who speaks both English and broken French, sometimes called Creole or Patois, is employed at 9-1-1.)  Mr. Johnson then asked, “Don’t you think this is something that we should have with the amount of Hispanic people in our comm...