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Another one to file in the police-out-of-control file. They are now moving into a witty area of activity — passing personal judgment on Latino drivers’ English speaking skills (or lack thereof), by issuing citations to them. Nice.
Police officers in Dallas, TX have issued at least 39 citations to drivers in the last three years for the non-existent infraction of not speaking English.
Police Chief David Kunkle has apologized publicly to the city’s Spanish-speaking community. “I was stunned that this would happen,” Kunkle stated. “In my world, you would never tell someone not to speak Spanish.”
The practice came to light in early October when Officer Gary Bromley, a rookie cop undergoing training, stopped Ernestina Mondragon for making an improper U-turn and then ticketed her for not speaking English. The woman was so upset that her family wound up taking her to the emergency room.
So at what point in the Police Academy do they instruct rookies to slap a ticket on someone who doesn’t speak English? Is that where Officer Bromley learned this, or is he just freelancing, trying out some new skilz in community policing? There were 38 similar tickets in the files issued by six different officers — so someone at the Dallas PD thought this was A-OK, or the seven must belong to some kind of Latino Driver Harassment Club.
3 Comments
What??How absurd…no one language is necessary to drive in this (and most other) countries.
Most signs are symbolic in nature, so you don’t even need literacy. Being able to read signs is helpful, but you had to pass a test to get your license. Usually that means you spent time studying a book offered in Spanish or English. I think our system has found ways to help non-English speakers become safe, licensed and insured drivers!
These officers need to catch up on the times.. The language being spoken in the car doesn’t matter, it’s about how safe they drive.
I think these officers need to be punished for their actions. They don’t get to make this a law out of their own prejudice. They have overturned important work that’s been done to help non-English speaking people feel comfortable approaching the DPS, learning the driving laws and getting their license.
Oy, so typicalAfter doing contract IT work for several law enforcement agencies, I’ve learned never to underestimate the selective hearing and bizarre misinterpretations of everything to the average patrol officer. There’s some critical thinking in there somewhere in their heads, but sometimes it takes a lot of shouting to activate it.
A “sincere mistake” … 39 times?How can the police chief say this was a “sincere mistake” when it happened 38 times prior to this one in the past three years? Also, what happened to the officer who wrote this ticket and the other officers who wrote the 38 other tickets?
Were they fired? Reprimanded? Or rewarded?
The Dallas police chief does not seem to think that 39 occurrences of writing tickets for not speaking English in a three year period is a systemic problem.