The traffic stop is the single most common reason for contact between police officers and civilians. In the vast majority of cities across the country, police officers have the authority to stop and arrest drivers for a broad variety of traffic violations, ranging from driving with an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror to driving dangerously above the posted speed limit. This wide-ranging authority essentially grants law enforcement carte blanche to pull drivers over for any reason.
Because the traffic stop is the most common reason for police-civilian contact, it also regularly exposes civilians to police violence. From Daunte Wright to Philando Castile and Sandra Bland, many of the highly publicized police-civilian encounters that have resulted in the death of the civilian began as traffic stops for minor violations.
There are hundreds more people—both those with stories broadly publicized and those whose stories remain unknown—who have been killed by law enforcement officers during or directly following a traffic stop for a low-level, civil traffic violation. And there are countless more individuals who escape traffic stops with their lives but are nevertheless left traumatized and degraded.
Police enforcement of minor traffic violations is simply not worth the hefty price of unnecessarily exposing civilians to contact with law enforcement. Low-level traffic violations pose no risk to public safety, but the law enforcement response to these violations does. Recognizing this, several cities have introduced legislation restricting law enforcement authority to stop motorists for minor infractions.
Policy White Paper
In our policy white paper, we outline how and why jurisdictions have limited law enforcement involvement in traffic enforcement and models policymakers can consider for their own cities.