Staying on the Law’s Good Side

Many Orange County residents, both recent immigrants and old-timers, are so ill-informed about what to do when stopped by police that they risk unnecessary confrontation and arrest, according to law enforcement authorities and human relations experts.

Some of the problems are cultural: Local authorities say some immigrants are not used to police using handcuffs, and some flee officers who draw their guns. Other problems simply are the result of misconceptions--many people who are issued citations are reluctant to sign the ticket because they believe that they are being asked to confess their guilt.

As a result, many authorities say the public needs better information about how to behave when confronted by police officers.

“The problem has been out there for quite a while,” said Orange County Human Relations Commission member Becky Esparza. “With the new influxes of immigrants, we have an ever-changing population that needs to be educated about their responsibilities as well as their rights.”

To spread the word, the Human Relations Commission has recently completed a brochure intended to prevent confrontations from arising--or defuse them once they do.

The brochure, commission members said, is a response both to frustrations expressed by police and to misunderstandings that some residents have about police procedures.

The pamphlet, written in English and Spanish, describes behavior that is expected of both police and citizens, details police complaint procedures and provides an excerpt from the law enforcement code of ethics.

For example, the brochure states that anyone who sees a police officer making an arrest should:

* Not interfere with the officer.

* Not taunt or challenge the officer.

* Move farther away from the scene if the officer asks.

The brochure also details the rights of people who are stopped by a police officer and suggests that they:

* Not give information other than their name and address.

* Request the officer’s name and badge number.

* Request an explanation for why they were stopped.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department has endorsed the pamphlet and requested enough copies so that every one of its officers can distribute them, Assistant Sheriff Dennis LaDucer said.

“This pamphlet approaches things from a different perspective in that it gives an unbiased view,” LaDucer said. “Most things of this type say, ‘These are your rights,’ but this goes over what the citizen’s responsibilities are in the community and deals with the issue much more fairly.”

Human Relations Commission staff member Barbara Considine said the brochure was being developed before the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney G. King focused national attention on the issue of excessive force. But that incident, she said, has made the pamphlet all the more timely.

LaDucer and others who have praised the brochure are quick to agree that there is no justification for excessive violence or “rogue” officers. But they say many serious incidents could be prevented if the public was better educated about police procedures.

Local civil rights lawyer Dick Herman agreed.

“It a good idea that everyone be informed about what their obligations are,” said Herman, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. Herman added that it would be even better if such instruction was given in schools.

“It would be helpful to have an officer come in and talk to kids in a relaxed way and tell them, ‘Hey, when you grow up, you might be stopped, and if that happens this is what you do, these are your rights, etc.,’ ” Herman said. “It could prevent a lot of problems.”

Ignorance or misconceptions about law enforcement procedures can have serious consequences, experts said. People can be arrested or cited simply for failing to move away from a crime scene. Once under arrest, the offense can be compounded by challenging the officer in any way.

Cultural differences also can lead to misunderstandings and confrontations, say authorities. In Mexico, for example, handcuffs are rarely, if ever, used by an officer, so Mexicans who are arrested here sometimes are alarmed to see the devices used, officials said.

“If a person is unfamiliar with that practice, they will be more hesitant, and the officer could interpret that hesitation as some form of resistance,” said Placentia Police Chief Manuel Ortega, also a member of the Human Relations Commission.

Many new residents, and even some longtime citizens, are unaware that signing a citation is not an admission of guilt, and some people have been arrested for refusing to sign for tickets, Esparza said.

Vietnamese immigrants tend to fear any authority figure wielding a gun, which has led to instances of individuals fleeing from officers even if they have committed no crime, she said.

Misunderstandings are so common that Fernando Gallo, branch director of the Santa Ana-based Center for Employment Training, said some of the most frequently asked questions from his newly legalized clients deal with police encounters.

“Many of the trainees have more encounters with police than with any other government agency,” said Gallo, who requested more than 500 of the brochures. “The pamphlets cite excellent examples of what to do in a situation and what to avoid.”

Gallo said the brochures have been used in discussions with clients and are also used in role-playing sessions.

“Some situations could be avoided if they had been informed,” said Gallo. “Some of these people are out of work and might do some things like loitering that would look suspicious and attract police. But . . . they don’t know how to respond.”

The Human Relations Commission receives about four police misconduct complaints a month, and the number has not risen since the King incident, according to staff.

But Ortega said that incident has created a greater concern among police departments, including his own, about how they are perceived by the public. In addition, he said, officers are trying harder to avoid confrontations, and efforts to educate the public may make that easier.

“We can never know how quickly a situation will escalate from one of compliance to resistance,” Ortega said. “The officer has to rely on his instincts. If the public is better informed of what its role should be, a lot of problems will be solved.”