On October 2nd, 2009, it came to light that rookie police officer, Gary Bromley, issued Ernestina Mondragon a citation for “being a non-English-speaking driver”. It has since been revealed that numerous other bogus citations had been issued by officers of various ranks within the Dallas Police Department.
Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle stated that an investigation revealed at least 39 citations for not speaking English that had been issued over the past three years; all officers and supervisors involved are currently under investigation for dereliction of duty.
Kunkle contended that in the case of Bromley, it was a “rookie mistake”, as there is law that requires all taxi drivers to speak English.
Kunkle called it a rookie mistake: under the Dallas City Code, taxi drivers must be able to speak English. There is also a federal statute that says commercial drivers must speak English and a federal statute that requires the same of commercial drivers.
Bromley originally pulled over Mondragon for making an illegal U-turn he added the “non-English-speaking driver” citation when she was found to be driving without a license (a charge which was later dropped because the license had been forgotten).
In a press conference on Friday, Kunkle explained that all drivers that had been issued with such citations would have the charges dropped and anyone that had paid the fines would be reimbursed.
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[SNAFU-ed]
