A new law has been proposed that would prevent police from stopping drivers for a whole slew of basic safety issues such as tail lights or headlights being out, overly tinted windows, expired registrations, expired inspections, and some low-level warrants. Racial equity and “reducing racial disparities in policing” is given as the need for the new law.
Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D, WF-Upper West Side Manhattan) and Assemblywoman Chantel Jackson (D- Bronx) introduced the bills S3662A/A6331.
In a shocking move, the proposed legislation also “provides for the suppression or exclusion of evidence obtained” if it was obtained as a result of a stop in one of the prohibited categories.
So, if police initiated a traffic stop due to headlights being out and then discover illegal weapons, drugs, or even a body or a live kidnapped person, that evidence against the driver could be excluded in those crimes. Critics bring up that a traffic stop is how infamous serial killer Jeremy Rifkin was caught.
This is essentially a pro-criminal bill say many. It gives cover to many serious crimes that are often associated with these other seemingly minor infractions.
“This is part of the constant effort of the progressive left in the state legislature to make the criminals victims and the actual victims are somehow the ones causing problems,” says New York State Conservative Chairman Gerry Kassar. “This is an anti-policing law plain and simple. It reduces police to being guards. It takes actually policing away as a basic duty of a police officer.”
Supporters of this legislation make claims that stopping drivers for these infractions is essentially racist. Because there is a disparity in race in the numbers of drivers stopped for these infractions, they say these police stops go against racial equity principles. Equating disparity with discrimination is not a valid comparison.
Kassar said, ““There have been countless crimes that have been prevented or criminal caught by legitimate police stops for other things. If police cannot pull people over for a cause, then a major crime-fighting tool is gone. We would lose a basic tool that has made New York a safer place.”
Should this proposed legislation become law, police may still write a citation for these infractions, but they could not use these infractions as a primary reason for a stop. These infractions would essentially become legalized unless they are in the context of a person committing a larger crime. If you have headlights or taillights out and are driving at night, a potentially dangerous activity for the driver, other drivers, and pedestrians around them, police would not be permitted to act on that.
Ryan Harrigan commented on the state senate comment page saying, “I am concerned about this bill and how it will tie the hands of law enforcement to proactively police beyond a simple traffic ticket. I also believe that it will make our roads more unsafe.”
Other basic vehicular safety infractions that would be removed from the police’s ability to enforce road safety include lack of a license plate light, excessively bright headlights, items kept in front of the windshield, failure to have two brake lights, excessive noise coming from the vehicle, and failure to properly signal prior to a turn.
A variety of pedestrian infractions are also removed from the police tool kit. Other bicycle, littering, and parking infractions would also be protected from police intervention.