NYPD cops routinely fail to translate the statements of abused women who don’t speak English — and mock or even arrest the accusers, a federal court suit charges.
The papers were filed in Brooklyn shortly before tragic mom Deisy Garcia made a Spanish-language police report last May 30, saying she feared her husband would kill her and their two daughters — which the NYPD never translated and which turned out to be prophetic.
Months later, on Jan. 18, she and her babies — Daniela, 2, and Yoselin, 1 — were stabbed to death in their Queens apartment, allegedly by husband and father Miguel Mejia-Ramos.
“Unfortunately, we’re not surprised that something like this happened, because we know that victims of domestic violence, when they’re not able to speak English, are not able to get the protection that they need,” plaintiffs’ lawyer Edward Josephson of Legal Services NYC said Monday.
“I think our clients are just lucky that something similar didn’t happen to them.”
Six Hispanic women and the Violence Intervention Program sued the city last year alleging the NYPD illegally discriminates against non-English speakers by failing to provide them with translation services during investigations of domestic disputes.
Garcia’s grieving mom said she, too, is considering suing the city over the deaths of her daughter and grandchildren.
Luzmina Alvarado said she broke down in tears after being forced to get “a woman off the street” to translate for her when she went to her local police station to get a copy of her daughter’s police report.
“A woman at the precinct said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand. I can’t help you,’ ” Alvarado said.
“I can only imagine what my poor daughter had to go through.”
Specific charges in the translation suit include a claim by Mexican immigrant Alret Macareno that cops ignored her repeated requests for an interpreter after her husband pushed her down a flight of stairs in August 2012.
Instead, one cop allegedly told Macareno “callate la boca” — “shut your mouth” — and then arrested her when she didn’t.
The city is trying to have the suit tossed.
Meanwhile, an NYPD spokeswoman told The Post that “as a result of an internal review,’’ the department last month “verbally instructed’’ officers on its policy regarding translations of domestic- abuse complaints.
“A memo will be transmitted to all commands informing all domestic-violence officers to locate a member of the command who possesses the necessary language skills to translate a victim’s written statement to English,’’ the spokeswoman said.
If no one is immediately available, one of the NYPD’s 1,200 officers identified as a “qualified interpreter’’ should be called in to help.
The directive states the procedures are to be followed with victim statements “whether the incident meets the threshold of an arrest or not.’’
In the Garcia case, no arrest was made after cops went to her apartment.
Additional reporting by Lorena Mongelli