PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The mayor ordered police Wednesday to stop pulling over drivers for low-level offenses that critics say lead to disproportionate stops of minority drivers, making Philadelphia the largest city government in the U.S. to ban what are sometimes called pretextual stops.
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The executive order from Mayor Jim Kenney puts a bill passed last month by the City Council — called the Driving Equality Bill — into effect. It bans officers from pulling over vehicles solely for a handful of traffic offenses deemed “secondary violations,” such as improperly displayed registration or inspection stickers, and single broken taillights.
Advocates for law enforcement say such stops can uncover illegal drugs and weapons, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1996 that they were acceptable. But critics say the practice has led to Black and Latino motorists being unfairly stopped and searched at high rates and sometimes being detained for small infractions.
It has also led to a handful of high-profile deaths. Sandra Bland in Texas, Walter Scott in South Carolina and Duante Wright in Minnesota were all initially pulled over for pretextual stops.
At least two prosecutor’s offices in Minnesota have said they will no longer prosecutor motorists charged with other crimes resulting from pretextual stops.
Municipalities smaller than Philadelphia, the nation’s sixth-most populous city, have issued similar bans, and the state of Virginia banned stops solely for infractions like smelling marijuana, overly tinted windows or objects hanging from the rearview mirror.
The Defender Association of Philadelphia projected that the enforcement change could mean as many as 300,000 fewer police encounters a year. The order also put into effect a second bill passed by the City Council requiring Philadelphia to collect and publish data on traffic stops, including the reason for the initial stop, the demographics of the driver and passengers, and the locations of those stops.
In 2011, the city settled a policing discrimination lawsuit that alleged Philadelphia officers illegally targeted Black residents for pedestrian searches. Reform advocates have argued in recent years that because those pedestrian stops have been closely monitored, officers turned to pretextual traffic stops to conduct the same barred searches on Black drivers instead.
Where online can I find a list of violatables?
If they ban the pullover then it is no longer an infraction
Traffic stops are very dangerous for policemen. This policy will save many lives.
I was Pulled Over A while ago at 4:30 am by a Sheriff, my car registration was expired for a year and a half, He was Screeching at the top of his lungs A Year and a Half again and again, then asked where I’m Headed I told him where I was going, then I told him I’m So Sorry, He answered I didn’t ask if your Sorry, Just Kept on screaming over and over A YEAR AND A HALF. He finally walks away came back a few minuets later with a Ticket and screams again, Do you know how long a car Registration is good for????? I didn’t answer, and he says 24 Months, this is 18 Months ALMOST DOUBLE. He was probably a Angry person and having a Bad Night