Oct 23, 2009 5:08 pm US/Central

DPD Officer Issues Improper 'Non-English' Citation

DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21)
A Dallas police officer issued three citations to a North Texas driver – including a violation for being a "Non-English Speaking Driver".

Officer Gary Bromley stopped Ernestina Mondragon on October 2. The officer, who was in his second phase of field training, selected the 'Non-English' violation from a program installed on the police squad car Mobile Data Computer.

Mondragon was stopped after allegedly making a u-turn in a school zone.

The 'Non-English' selection is an actual Traffic Code violation, but it is specific to commercial drivers only. Mondragon, who was also ticketed for not carrying her driver's license, has a Class C driver's license.

Officials with the Dallas Police Department issued a statement saying officers aren't trained to enforce the 'Non-English' violation and that all citations are reviewed for appropriateness, but in this case a supervisor failed to make the correction.

When Mondragon complained to Dallas police the department found 38 other instances of similar 'Non-English' tickets being issued in the past three years. DPD is reviewing the ticketing process to try and make sure something like this doesn't happen again.

Mondragon's daughter, Brenda, said her mother's limited English had never been a problem before. "I feel this should have never happened to my mom. She felt very bad; she was stressed out over it. It was a bad experience," she said.

Police Chief David Kunkle was scheduled to meet privately with Mondragon Friday and then hold a public press conference, but Mondragon went to an attorney instead. The chief still held the press conference, where he said, "This is something I wished hadn't happened. It's an embarrassment."

DPD is also investigating the incident to determine responsibility and will decide whether disciplinary or corrective actions are necessary once the review is complete. "The field training officer is going to bear more responsibility than the recruit officer," Chief Kunkle said of any potential Dereliction of Duty actions.

The department's largest labor group, the Dallas Police Association, had nothing to say about the issue, but a Latino police group agreed with the chief. "They [officers] need to be held more accountable," said George Aranda with the Latino Peace Officers Association.

The court dismissed two of the three citations issued to Mondragon, including the "Non-English" ticket. During the press conference Chief Kunkle said the ticket Mondragon has already paid, for the illegal u-turn, will also be dismissed.

http://cbs11tv.com/local/non.english.sp ... 66949.html