Nine other NYPD officers reprimanded for speaking Spanish on the job

New York Daily News
Joe Kemp and Rich Schapiro
Posted: June 25, 2013 10:08 PM
Updated: June 26, 2013 1:55 PM

Officer Jessenia Guzman received a mark in her file for violating the NYPD’s controversial English-only policy and she’s not alone. At least nine other officers have also faced discipline for breaking the department’s law, which Anthony Miranda — chairman of the National Latino Officers Association — said were handed out after the cops filed unrelated discrimination complaints.

NYPD Officer Jessenia Guzman was cited for speaking Spanish on the job after the NYPD quietly instituted its English-only policy.
(Photo: NYPD)

OFFICER JESSENIA Guzman is not the only Spanish-speaking cop to face consequence under the NYPD’s controversial English-only policy.

A total of nine Hispanic officers have been cited for running afoul of the policy, a national Latino police organization said Tuesday.

Many of the officers were hit with the official reprimands after first filing unrelated discrimination complaints, said Anthony Miranda, chairman of the National Latino Officers Association.

Anthony Miranda, chairman of the National Latino Officers Association, said cops given reprimands for speaking Spanish on the job had first filed unrelated discrimination complaints.
(Photo: James Keivom/New York Daily News)

“They used this policy of English-only to retaliate against those officers that filed complaints,” said Miranda whose group held a demonstration Tuesday after the Daily News featured Guzman in Monday’s paper.

NYPD officials could not immediately confirm the number of officers cited for breaking the English-only directive, but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly reiterated his support for the policy Tuesday, saying that federal law dictates the rule. “It’s anti-discrimination laws that say that there is a English-only requirement in the workplace,” Kelly said, noting that the department took no disciplinary action against Guzman beyond putting the reprimand in her file.

Dennis Gonzalez, president of the NYPD Hispanic Society, denounced the rule Tuesday night, saying in a statement, “The next logical step would be to reprimand an officer of Asian descent for ordering chow fun or an officer of Greek descent for ordering a gyro.”