Cop didn't know spanish and city is being sued

[Maverick7340]

I can't believe this.

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52228

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[P95Carry]

On the language aspect - I dare not comment!!! This is America, isn't it?!

City sued:

Didn't
teach cop Spanish

Attorney seeking over $1 million says officer
who assaulted Hispanic couldn't communicate

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: September 30, 2006
6:00 p.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

An attorney for a Hispanic man who was allegedly knocked to the ground and kicked by a police officer is seeking over $1 million dollars for his client, arguing that the city's failure to teach law enforcement officers "fundamental Spanish" is the reason excessive force was used.

According to the suit filed in a Hunt County, Texas, district court on Wednesday, Jose Lopez was assaulted at a football game in 2004 by a Royse City police officer who allegedly knocked him to the ground and kicked him in the knee and face while wearing steel-toed boots.


Domingo Garcia

Dallas attorney Domingo Garcia argues in his filing that the city was negligent for not monitoring and training the unnamed officer – specifically, for not training him to speak Spanish "in order to properly communicate with Spanish-speaking persons."

Chief Tom Shelton told the Greenville Herald-Banner he was unable to discuss the specifics of the alleged incident but that the lawsuit was without merit and that he was standing behind the officer.

"There's really not going to be much to it," he said. "To me, it is pretty much a frivolous lawsuit."

"I feel very confident the officer did everything he was supposed to do and he was supported by several witnesses," Shelton added.

[artz]

LOL.... they outta kick the lawyer !

[PatrioticRick]

Can't see it real good, but you catch my drift.

[SIGguy229]

"The plaintiff in the suit said he had been coming to the U.S. to work for 23 years but did not understand what the officer meant when he repeatedly said, "Down! Down! Down!"

So...in 23 years this guy (the illegal alien)didn't know what "down" meant?

Don't know what to say that will be polite about this situation....but it's pretty darn sarcastic...

[havegunjoe]

This is exactly why we need a law making English the official language. It would save us taxpayers millions not only in lawsuits but in forms being printed in multiple languages. MN X-Senator Rod Grams tried to get this passed years ago if I remember correctly but the Washington PC crowd voted it down.

[BigEd63]

Looks like the officer communicated pretty good just using "body language".

[osanmike]

So do all of our LEO's need to speak all of the languages in the world? I don't speak any foriegn languages, but I bet if I was in another country (Which I am), and a police officer was pointing a gun and yelling at me, I could figure out what he wanted.

[purple88yj]

LOL.... they outta kick the lawyer !

+1!!

The problem is that the court is likely to find in favor of the guy who got his butt handed to him because no one wants to piss of the illegals.

Next thing you know, we will have to learn to say "Stop or I will shoot!" in sixteen dozen languages and say them all before we can do anything. Gotta give the non-english speaking criminals a chance, you know... .

We may even have to learn to say it with an English accent jsut to ensure there is no confusion.

[.45acp]

This is the kind of b.s. that pisses me off and I'll leave my comments go at that rather than going on a rant and being banned.

[cagueits]

I speak english as a second language (my first language is spanish) and I side with the officer - if you are in a foreign country (USA for the inlegal alien), you are subject to thier laws and you are the one who needs to be able to communicate on the language spoken on the nation you are in, not the other way around.

My 2 cents.

[ccw9mm]

... the city was negligent for ... not training [the officer] to speak Spanish "in order to properly communicate with Spanish-speaking persons."

And I suppose the city would be negligent in its engagements with Swahili-speaking travelers, Romanian visitors and any number of other non-English speaking folks, too.

The contention is not use of excessive force. It's that the city doesn't train officers to speak foreign languages. I think the plaintiff has it backwards: the negligence is in the one with 23yrs' experience of coming to the USA to work yet (apparently) not understanding simple gestures to get down, stay put, turn around, etc.

Unknown specifics, but about there are generally two ways to get popped by an LEO: (a) get an LEO that's off the ranch, which is bad luck; or, (b) resist an LEO. Simple lack of communication is frequent and can happen due to any number of things (deaf, injury, drugs, language differences). LEO's prepare for this. Good LEO's don't damage people due to simple lack of communication. But resistance? That's universal and, I'd guess, entirely possible in this case.

[HotGuns]

I have ZERO tolerance for this kind of crap.

A lawyer will push it, even if he thinks he cant win, because he will get paid no matter what happens.

I've dealt with illegals. Anyone that has been here for more than a few months will know a few words of English that they'll learn by accident if nothing else.

I've stopped several (legal and illegal) on traffic stops that claimed they couldnt speak English. Within a few minutes, it was obvious that they were using the language barrier to their benefit. Its always interesting to see how many words they suddenly "remember" when they are cuffed or their car is towed.

I dont beleive that "language" barrier is as revelant as most make it out to be.

Thats all Im gonna say about that....

[RSSZ]

If this CJ goes thru,the people from "outter slobovia" should have a "outter slobovian" speaking LEO on the force also.

Where will it all end ??? --------

[USPnTX]

Absolutely and utterly insane!!!