Philadelphia is the first city in the US to stop police from pulling over motorists for minor traffic offenses.
Later this week, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney will sign two bills into law that will track and end the type of policing that has unfairly affected Black drivers for years.
After the bill is signed by Mayor Kenney on Wednesday it won’t take effect until 120 days after.
According to the Mayor’s office, the legislation is likely to be enacted through executive action by Nov. 3.
On Oct. 14, the city council passed the Driving Equality bill 14-2. Now, certain motor vehicle code infractions will be reclassified as “primary” or “secondary” offenses.
Police will be able to conduct traffic stops for primary violations; however, “secondary” violations such as bumper issues, one broken brake light or one broken headlight, and unlawful operation without evidence of emission inspection, among other offenses, will no longer be sufficient to stop drivers.
The bills were introduced by council member Isiah Thomas in an effort to end the traffic checkpoints that have harmed police relations with minority neighborhoods. The bill he co-sponsored requires the police department to gather data on all vehicle stops and make it publicly available in a database.
CNN reported that Councilmember Thomas introduced the bills in Oct. 2020 to reduce “the tension between police and community members by removing negative interactions.”
“I am humbled by every person who told my office of the humiliation and trauma experienced in some of these traffic stops,” Thomas said in a statement. “To many people who look like me, a traffic stop is a rite of passage — we pick out cars, we determine routes, we plan our social interactions around the fact that it is likely that we will be pulled over by police.”
According to reports, between October 2018 and September 2019 black drivers were responsible for 72% of almost 310,000 traffic stops made in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Police Department is expected to educate its officers on the new policies.
“We believe this is a fair and balanced approach to addressing racial disparity without compromising public safety,” the department said in a statement.
“This modified enforcement model for car stops furthers the Department’s priority of addressing the issue of racial disparity in the Department’s investigative stops and complements the Department’s efforts to address these same issues in pedestrian stops.”
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