"Officers liked it," said Lt. Michael McQueen, who has led the test run the past eight weeks in the city's southwest quadrant. "With this machine, officers can be more at ease without fear of being misunderstood."

Spanish, Russian and Arabic are the most likely languages police will pick to use, McQueen said.

Some languages widely spoken in Fort Wayne, including Burmese, are not yet available.

The growing Hispanic population makes Spanish, by far, the most important foreign language for police officers.

"In every shift, somebody is asking for a Spanish-speaking officer," southwest Deputy Chief Doug Lucker said. "The machine would not solve all the problems, but it's certainly a stopgap measure."

Phrases the device understands include consent for search, Miranda rights and traffic stop, McQueen said. It also displays the phrase on the screen so officers can show it to the person they are dealing with.

It reacts only to pre-registered voices. Although primarily designed for general police patrol, phrases for specific investigations can be downloaded whenever needed.

Police were given a $4,000 grant from State Farm Insurance for two recorders. McQueen hopes to have at least four -- one for each quadrant -- and possibly up to 10.

Lucker, who is on the advisory board of the Multicultural Advisory on Youth Alternatives, said the department should have about 70 to 75 officers capable of speaking Spanish to match the needs in the community. Only 20 officers currently speak Spanish.

Salvador Soto, former president of the Fort Wayne Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the translation device might improve communication but does not go beyond being "a nice Band-Aid."

"There are humongous communication gaps between police officers and non-English speakers, not only Hispanics," he said.

Soto said he's also concerned about possible mistranslations despite improvements in technology. He said he hopes the department will increase the number of officers with bilingual or bicultural backgrounds.