Philadelphia racial equity bill bans police from making stops for minor violations

The Philadelphia City Council passed a bill aimed at eliminating racial inequalities that will ban police from making traffic stops for minor violations.

“Being pulled over by law enforcement is a rite of passage for Black men. It’s something we all know that we’re gonna have to go through,” Councilmember Isaiah Thomas said of the bill. “I’ve been pulled over so many times that I’ve actually lost count.”

People of color are 3.4 times more likely to be pulled over than White drivers, according to an analysis by WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. Advocates of the bill argue these stops are a pretext to searching vehicles, which leads to a distrust of police among Black and Latino drivers.

Thomas recalled an incident in which he was pulled over for having a broken taillight and discovered the next day it wasn’t broken when he took his car to a mechanic. According to Philadelphia Public Defenders’ Police Accountability Unit head Michael Mellon, a broken light is the most common minor violation drivers in the city are pulled over for.

In a 14-2 vote, the council decided to ban that practice and traffic stops for other minor violations that do not pose an imminent threat to safety. – READ MORE

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