Pretextual Traffic Stops

The Problem

Police officers in the United States make more than 20 million traffic stops each year. Many of these stops have little to do with traffic safety. In fact, officers can pull people over for minor rule violations, like hanging a graduation tassel on a rearview mirror — and they do this as an excuse or “pretext” to conduct a search and go fishing for other crimes. Black drivers are disproportionately likely to be stopped. Not only are these low-level traffic stops unnecessary, unfair, and biased, they also create unnecessary opportunities for confrontation that can be dangerous for both officers and motorists. These stops also lead to community mistrust of police and take resources away from more important public safety needs, while rarely helping police solve crimes. 

The Solution

The Policing Project’s model legislation would reduce unnecessary traffic stops overall and could decrease bias in traffic policing. It would do this by (1) prohibiting traffic stops for certain low-level offenses that don’t significantly impact public safety and (2) limiting the intrusiveness of those stops that do take place.  

To view our two-pager summarizing the key provisions of this statute, click here. 

To read the Policing Project’s Act to Curtail Pretextual Traffic Stops, click here.

For research supporting our statute, click here.