Dallas police ticketed 39 drivers in 3 years for not speaking English | Dallas Morning News — The funniest aspect of this story are not the tickets but the fact that the paper reporting it had to turn off comments. Gee, I wonder why?
Dallas police wrongly ticketed at least 39 drivers for not speaking English over the last three years, Police Chief David Kunkle announced Friday while promising to investigate all officers involved in the cases for dereliction of duty.Pending cases will be dismissed, and those who paid the $204 fine for the charge, which does not exist in the city, will be reimbursed, Kunkle said.”I was surprised and stunned that that would happen, particularly in the city of Dallas,” Kunkle said. “In my world, you would never tell someone not to speak Spanish.”
If you want to live in this great country, you need to demonstrate a baseline level of intelligence. Learning to speak English does just that.
StoopidFlanders (#21),
OK, then a law needs to be passed to make it a requirement. Until then the Dallas PD cannot issue a citation for failing to speak English. Again, which is why these 39 citations are being thrown out because it is currently not against the law…
While the judge is throwing out citations, perhaps he can also find the time to throw out the illegal aliens. This is a nation of laws, isn’t it?
Dear Grace, half of Texas does not speak Spanish ! they speak Tex-Mex ! Like I said if they spoke “true” spanish maybe a lot of police officers wouldn’t mind taking a spanish speaking course BUT if they spoke true spanish most of the hispanic Texans wouldn’t be abale to understand them .. I get this informatin from , many hispanic people here in Texas… Is any one geting this ???
Grace #17 said, “Well that’s amazing, seeing that probably over 1/2 of Texas speaks Spanish and that Texas was a part of Mexico longer than it has been a part of the USA.”
Why are they speaking Spanish and not Nahuatl?
Loupe #25 , many police officers most likely took Spanish Language courses in high school BUT like I said the Hispanic people in Texas do not speak true Spanish they speak TEX-MEX !
At leat pick one language , and lean it correctly…
I wonder how these people would like it if thre employeers paid all TEX-MEX speaking people in pasos ??
Well you are right about the TEX-MEX.
I grew up in New Mexico, in a bi-lingual school system. We were required to take both Spanish and English through the 10th grade. Even though it was Castillian Spaanish, it can be understood by most Hispanics. It’s like American English and Great Britain English or Cajun French to original. The differences are idiomatic rather than structural. So, making a blanket statement that Hispanic Texans can’t communicate with a non Tex-Mex speaker is incorrect.
My question is; how did they get a driver’s license? Did they not have to produce proof of residency and take a written test (in English)?
Isn’t that Chris DiBona driving the car on that cartoon?
Michigan is a border state, yes the other border. The drivers license bureau has two lines, one for Spanish and one for English speakers. .. Wanna know what’s wrong with liberalisim catering to the whimes of the few at the expense of the many. .. Quebec is only 300 miles away and they speak French. .. Canada has laws that require all official business to be carried out in both languages, even though there are more Mandarin Chinese speakers in British Columbia than People who speak the required lanquage, French. .. But the National Sport is not Hockey as you would expect but LaCross .. Welcome to the future U.S.A. speakers who will be required to learn Spanish in schools now so they can communicate with George Bush’s favorite cheap labor source.
How can they have foreign language ballots, when one requirement for citizenship is to show a proficiency in English?
MikeN (#31),
Good question.
It would be nice if there was a law banning the speaking of redneck.
You don’t have to say anything to a police officer except your name. Names are language neutral.
@Benjamin
Have you ever been pulled over? I would like to be there when you are so I can see what happens when you tell the nice police man just your name and nothing else.
My thought is is they cannot speak english, then they can’t read the road signs. That is pretty dangerous in my book. Someone said that “Dallas is not a bordertown”. Funny even then police officers end up having to speak spanish in order to help or work with people who cannot speak English. This makes it more difficult all the way around. I have nothing against the hispanic population, but it would help if those that have a hard time speaking the language, have a basic knowledge.
comu est a?
To those people who “assume” that non English speakers are illegal aliens, go back to school and get an education in common sense. In order to get a driver’s license in Texas, you need proof of residency. Unless these people had fraudulent documents, then they’re here legally. If they were able to “fool” law enforcement with fraudulent documents, then the law enforcement officers need to get educated themselves. These drivers took and passed the same test that you did to obtain their driver’s license whether in English or Spanish. Learn the facts before opening up your mouth or using your keyboard. I’m sure your ancestors weren’t welcome here either when they arrived on Ellis Island years ago. Learn to get along and change with the times. At the rate they’re going anyway, you will probably have to communicate in Spanish, with your boss.