Police Officer Uses iPhone to Establish Peace in a Hispanic Environment

While some can't get enough of the hundreds of features added by Apple with every new software release, one user, a police officer in Benton County, Washington, is using far less of his iPhone's features, but doing so much more than most people owning the handset.

The iPhone is described in a KNDU news story as a “crime-fighting gadget” for Deputy Doug Hollenbeck who patrols a "significantly Hispanic community.” He has been relying on his iPhone for the last eight months to develop Spanish skills in order to explain to people what it is that they've done wrong. In dealing with everything from roll-over accidents to routine traffic stops, Deputy Hollenbeck has been able to use the iPhone on the job as a translator with great success.

He admits he’s at a disadvantage because he can’t speak fluent Spanish, however, Hollenbeck makes himself understood 100 percent of the time he's “busting” someone for something.

“I’ve got some basic vocabulary skills but other than that, not so much,” he said. According to the original report, Benton County's clever officer either reads the on-screen translation of what he's trying to communicate, or asks the individuals themselves to read the text along with him.

“At the very least, I fell that they [the criminals] should understand what they did wrong, and how they can correct it,” Hollenbeck added.

Unfortunately, the KNDU report doesn't make any mentioning of the actual application Deputy Hollenbeck uses to boost his Spanish skills. Apple's iPhone doesn't ship with any translation-capable software stored in its memory. Therefore, Washington's iPhone-equipped officer has undoubtedly visited the App Store for a quick look at the options. Also, the video footage clearly shows a multi-language-capable app being launched on Deputy Hollenbeck's iPhone (pictured left).

Do you know anyone using their iPhone as a tool in such uncommon scenarios in everyday life? What's the strangest thing you've done using your iPhone?