At least 20 Dallas officers wrote no-English tickets

The number of officers tied to the tickets is greater than police initially estimated. And it is likely to grow because Dallas police officials say they plan to look back several more years and include the supervisors who signed off on the tickets in the investigation for possible dereliction of duty.

Almost all of the 38 people cited for the offense – which is not a crime in Dallas – were Hispanic. None of the officers who wrote the tickets were Hispanic, records show. The officers range from rookie to 13-year veteran and wrote as many as five tickets each for not speaking English.

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Number Of Dallas Police Who Issued Tickets For 'Not Speaking English' Grows

A story that began with one woman's complaint to a TV station about the ticket she'd been given by police "for being a non-English speaking driver" has mushroomed in Dallas.

As the Morning News reports: "since 2007, at least 20 Dallas police officers from five patrol divisions have wrongly cited motorists for not speaking English."

The newspaper says the number of officers involved "is likely to grow because Dallas police officials say they plan to look back several more years and include the supervisors who signed off on the tickets in the investigation for possible dereliction of duty."

WFAA-TV says that 39 people received such tickets. All but one were Spanish speakers. The 39th was issued to a Vietnamese man.

The city is going to drop any of the cases that are still pending and will reimburse anyone who has paid a fine for the fictitious violation.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/10/driving_speaking_english_ticke.html