Is this appropriate behavior for a police officer?

matillda2u

I had to ask my father, who is a retired officer with 37 years on the job (actually just north of Milwaukee County) to get his opinion. His take on it is that while unfortunately, this is a touchy subject, there is no 'gentle' way to ask such a question. Unfortunately, there are immigrants out there who speak very little english, and tend to answer yes to everything, not knowing what it is they are being told or asked to do. Due to cultural sensitivity training, they may be asking this question for the exact reason that if you did not, they would have definately called in an interpretor, to be sure you understood what was going on. I don't think the officer was "assuming" anything, other than making sure he was doing his job, and that you as the driver (or accused) understood what was going on.

Lord L

In his line of work, standard procedure.

What you could have done, or can do in the future if it bothers you is say:
Si, no habla inglas

Spanky

It was standard proceedure

ken y

sounds reasonable to me

Odessa R

he wasn't aware where you were born , so he just wanted to make sure you could understand him ...cripes !

tallerfella

I live in southern California. It is harder here to get a rules of the road book at DMV in english than any other language. It is not out of the line.

glassnegman

Hello =)

I think that it is standard procedure. If your answer would have been no, he may have called for another officer who may have spoken whatever language you did speak.

It would have been really funny to mess with him though, say, if you pretended to only speak something really unusual, like Mongolian, or Tibetan...LOL

Namaste,

--Tom

firerescue22

sure be offended. however....the officer was probably trying to make sure you understood what he was saying...and if you didnt he could call for a translator before going any furthur. i doubt he was trying to be rude. but when im talking to someone i want to be sure they understand......so when i hand them a ticket for $175 they know why

patrioticpeladac

Maybe he's had trouble in the past not understanding people.

I guess you can blame the ones that refuse to accept our language and speak it.

david m

Idk lots of feregin people dont know english .......
so ya its appropiate so if u dont speak english they could get a translator or something

janus

think of someone who doesn't speak english. they could be offended if he started speaking without asking.

none

He needs to know that if you didn't listen to his commands whether or not you chose not to, or simply didn't understand him. It was for the safety of both of you. If you didn't understand english, and he told you to put your hands on the wheel, and you failed to do so, you may have gone to jail.

crewdog60

I am sure that with the influx of foreigners, both legal and illegal, this is a legitimate question. We are no longer the "melting pot" as most immigrants do not want to learn English and therefore try to push government into catering to their native languages. I would not be in the least bit surprised that if you acted like you didn't understand him, he would have probably let you off.

shadowman

Not at all out of line. I don't mean to be forward with you, but you have asked for responses. Here's mine. Political correctness is tearing this nation to threads. Creating divisions among races. Causing others to think wrong of others that are not like them. You could have just smiled and said yes.

pendleton4068

he was not being rude just wanted to know if u spoke english and were gonin to be able to understand what he had to say !!

native

it is standard, it sounds like he was trying to be understanding and not upset you. how would you have felt if you only spoke Korean and he only spoke to you in english. i think you took it the wrong way.

rand a

well, it seems like a little strange, but who knows, maybe he just pulled over a carload of asian tourists who didnt speak english. maybe he was watching tv about the mexicans who come here and sue the goverment to teach their illegal kids spanish in schools. You could have tried to play dumb i guess, and told him something very rude in korean if you speak it.

ret_roch_cop

I think it was appropriate.

Elizabeth Howard

I can understand why you were offended. But remember, in the past there have been those who have later claimed they were unfairly treated as they didn't speak English although they appeared at the time to do so. So, he may have had problems in the past and was trying to confirm before anything else was said that you understood and confirmed that you understood.

Judge Dredd

There are no procedures for determining whether someone speaks English or not. There is nothing in writing that says you have to ask someone something in English first or just go ahead and ask if they speak English. For all you now he may work, or had worked, in an area where there was a large population of Asian Americans that did not speak English.

He certainly sounded respectful. I think you are just being too sensitive.

TXLawdawg

It is possible that he was just following procedure established by his agency. I'm sure he meant no harm by his question.

lithium630

Probably not a good idea, but is it really that big of a deal. Was he rude otherwise? Its also possible you had a confused look on your face as so many non english speaking people do.

Mr. Right

While asking if you speak English isn't inappropriate in itself, he didn't have to ask because he would have found out within a few seconds anyway when he asked you for your license and registration.

Of course it is. It would avoid problems if the person didn't speak English.

lonewolf1

Just doing his job and making sure everything is understood, "just in case".....

There was nothing wrong with him asking that question. If worded like that, it wasn't disreprectful in anyway.

I am in Texas, and it is fairly common if we pull over someone Hispanic to ask it from the get go. It is a way of getting the ball rolling quicker if they do not. It is a fact of life in this state, and country, that some do not speak english. He just asked.

Had he asked in a way that was disrespectful, I would understand. ie. "Great, well do you speak english or do I need to get a translator out here", something along those lines. But, it seems he just asked a simple question by the way you worded it.

infobrokernate

Yes, this is standard procedure. He just wanted to be able to communicate with you or call a translator.

He is not racist or out of line.

Lt. Dan reborn

I was a cop for 21 years, and never felt the need to ask this question. I also speak Spanish and German as well as English and I would usually switch to Spanish when the person answered by in awkward English, or didn't do anything except sit there.I do know that there are some strange departmental policies that a desk jockey genius thinks up and makes the field officers implement. The good thing is they usually die out after a few weeks or months of misery for the field officers.
So, it was a bit unusual I agree, but it may have been that Trooper's awkward attempt to make you feel comfortable (Iwhat the heck, he may have even served at Camp Casey and wanted to try out his limited Korean!).

mech_warrior172003

it is a bit out of line....HOWEVER...several things are at stake here....(remember these are my opinions) 1-america gets more and more imorted ppl everyday and alot of america doesnt speak english. 2- you may be in an area that has alot of ppl that skeak another language. 3- he wouldnt know till he asked.

gabs4_28

well maybe it was standard procedure but maybe it was for his own reliance bcuz if u wouldn't he would act diff or maybe get a translator faster.....well dont get offended cops deal wit ppl that dont kno english all the time. have fun

nickle

Any more due to all the different non-english languages spoken, the officers will ask so in case they need to find someone to transilate for the person-----------------there is nothing offensive about being asked if you speak english---trying to make it easier oon the person and the officer in case someone doesnt.

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