In the wake of the 2020 nationwide George Floyd Uprising, my office introduced a motion that takes a sober approach to policing. In a city that is built around the vehicle, policing has relied on traffic stops as a method to fish for potential criminal suspects. This resulted in policies that favored pretextual stops. In a 2019 an LA Times article that analyzed pretextual stops and found that across the city:
- 24% of Black drivers and passengers were searched, compared with 16% of Latinos and 5% of white people, during a 10-month period.
- White drivers were found with drugs, weapons or other contraband in 20% of searches, compared with 17% for Black drivers and 16% for Latino drivers.
In light of this, the motion I introduced along with Councilmembers Bonin, Price, and Wesson, called for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation to look into alternative models of policing our roads and create a set of recommendations. This will free up officers to do actual police work. It is unnecessary to have armed law enforcement stopping people for vehicle code violations.
The current recommendations include:
- Creating safer street infrastructure
- Limiting the types of vehicle code violations that would qualify for a traffic stop (ex: expired tags, tail light out, an air freshener on the rearview mirror)
- Creating a care unit that could help motorists if their light is out or if they are having other vehicle issues.
As of April 2024, the legislation has moved through the Transportation Committee and needs to be scheduled for the Public Safety Committee before a final Council vote. To track the legislation click here.