Immigrant and Civil Rights Groups File Language Access Complaint against SFPD
San Francisco -- Immigrant and civil rights groups filed an Office of Citizen complaint and a California Tort Act administrative claim today against the San Francisco Police Department for failure to provide language access and wrongful arrest of a domestic violence survivor. The complaint, filed by Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus, was brought on behalf of a limited English proficient domestic violence survivor named Dora Mejia who was denied interpretation services and wrongfully arrested.
Ms. Mejia was the victim of an abusive relationship with her ex-partner for many years. About six months prior to the incident, she broke off her relationship with her ex-partner. She asked him to move out of her home, but he refused and threatened her when she wanted to call the police. This abuse culminated in May 2014 when Ms. Mejia's ex-partner assaulted her and then called SFPD on her. Ms. Mejia, who is limited English proficient, asked the SFPD officers for an interpreter, but they refused. By contrast, the officers did provide interpretation to her ex-partner. The officers then unjustly arrested Ms. Mejia, leaving her three children with her abusive partner, and detaining her until the next morning.
"Ms. Mejia has courageously come forward to share the terrible ordeal that she went through to prevent this from happening to other community members. SFPD has one of the best language access policies in the country. However, this policy needs to be complied with to ensure that all Limited English Proficient individuals are provided with language access and domestic violence survivors like Dora are not falsely arrested," said Angela Chan, Policy Director and Senior Staff Attorney with Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus.
"Anyone working in the immigrant community knows that people are often being denied language services, but people are fearful to share their stories, especially when it comes to public safety agencies. It is the responsibility of all of us to listen and ensure this doesn't happen again." said Grace Lee, Policy Director with Chinese for Affirmative Action.
"As advocates we know, from directly serving the community, that there are many other domestic violence survivors who have also experienced similar denials of language access" said Ana I. De Carolis with Mujeres Unidas y Activas. "We urge public safety agencies to follow language access protocols at all times."
Among other requests, the complaints seek the following remedies:
1. Regular trainings of all officers at the academy, advanced officer trainings, and roll call trainings. These trainings should include pre-tests and post-tests to measure the effectiveness of the trainings.
2. Unannounced review of officer interactions with LEP community members to monitor compliance.
3. Evaluation and report by an independent auditor to determine the areas where SFPD needs to improve in providing language access.
4. Monthly audits of whether officers have properly documented interactions with LEP community members.
