In what they now admit was a mistake, police ticketed 39 drivers in the past three years for not speaking English in Dallas.

The practice came to light when Ernestina Mondragon was stopped for making an illegal U-turn. She was sighted for three violations: failure to present a driver’s license, disregarding a traffic control device, and “non-English speaking driver.”

Similar citations were issued by at least six different officers over the past three years.

Police authorities now believe that the officers were confused by a pull-down menu on computers in Dallas patrol cars that list “non-English speaking driver” as a charge option. But the charge is actually a federal statute regarding commercial drivers, a law the Dallas police department does not enforce.

Pending cases and warrants issued by Dallas police under this charge will be held for review, according to court authorities. But the number of cases over the past three years has caused concern that the practice may in fact be a matter of policy.

Brenda Reyes, a member of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said, “It’s the principle of the matter that there are police officers out there representing our city who actually think that it’s a crime not to speak English.”

Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle has apologized repeatedly for the incidents and said he recognized that it might damage the department’s relationship with the Hispanic community.

“When we deal with crime victims … our interest is not their immigration status,” Kunkle said. “It’s not something that we concern ourselves about. We want to serve all people.”