State senator wants to end police stops for minor offenses

A state senator wants to prevent police officers from pulling over drivers for minor offenses like expired tabs.

The idea is to limit interactions that can escalate to fatal shootings.

“There is a term, ‘Driving while Black,’ that is used in the Black community because of these types of stops,” said Sen. Joe Nguyen (D-White Center).

Nguyen is finalizing a bill to prevent officers from stopping drivers for expired tags, broken taillights, windows with too much tint or something dangling from a rearview mirror.

They’re called pretext stops. And last year, Virginia banned them.

“Things that don’t pose anybody any risk or harm but are used as a pretext for officers to then check for other things,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen said pretext stops rarely help police fight crime.

He pointed to a study that found of the nearly 260,000 traffic stops over two years by San Diego police, only 1.3% led to an arrest.

“My goal is to limit the interactions between the general public and law enforcement unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Nguyen said.

In Minnesota on Sunday, a police officer shot Daunte Wright during an encounter that started when he was pulled over for expired tags, and officers found an outstanding warrant.

This week, the city of Kent paid $4.4 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of Giovonn Joseph-McDade, who was killed by police in 2017 after an encounter that began with officers making a traffic stop for a canceled license plate.

Because the 2021 legislative session is nearly over, Nguyen is introducing the bill to be considered in 2022.

The bill would not prevent police from stopping someone for a moving violation, like drunken driving.

Cox Media Group