Thread: Incident shows system broken

http://www.islandpacket.com/editorial/s ... 3608c.html

Incident shows system broken
Published Wednesday, December 27, 2006

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To the Packet:

You are making your way home from a late night run to the grocery store when a car traveling in the same direction, turns into your lane, smashing the passenger side of your new car.

The reckless driver speeds down U.S. 278, but realizes you are not going to let him get away without a license plate number. To discourage the chase, he slams on his brakes, then weaves through traffic coming close to claiming another victim.

The car is cornered in a parking lot. The police arrive and handcuff him. As he staggers to the cruiser, you are told he has no driver's license and no record of insurance. When you ask about a DUI charge, you are told the police officers do not speak Spanish so they're unable to properly administer testing or read him his rights, nor did they have anyone they could call.

This is exactly what happened to my son on his Thanksgiving break from college.

Whose rights are being protected? This man will pay for some of his actions. But when it comes to a DUI charge, non-English speaking individuals have more rights.

I appreciate and respect the sacrifice of all law enforcement officers. Obviously, flaws in the system aren't coping with problems that illegal immigrants create. So what can we do? If enough people express disgust to people in authority, things could change. If you would like to see more done to address illegal alien issues, voice your opinion by writing or calling our state representatives.

Christal Gillespie

Bluffton

It seems to me, with technology, they could get someone on a computer video screen to read the man his rights and interpret for him on the spot. Just one cruiser hooked up with satellite internet and a laptop with a cam on it would do or they could hook it into the police camera on the dash so the whole conversation is recorded.

There really is no excuse for this type of injustice. Of course if we had secure borders and our immigration laws enforced, we wouldn’t have the problem of needing someone to interpret.