The new policy, department general order 9.07, was subject to a public input process lasting over a year and almost an entire year of bargaining with the Police Officer's Association.
Director of the Criminal Justice Program at the ACLU of Northern California Yoel Haile said."The Police Commission's vote to restrict pretext stops is an important step towards reducing racist policing tactics where police officers disproportionately stop and search Black and Brown people under the guise of traffic enforcement."
The new policy bars officers from using a list of nine minor traffic violations as pretext to investigate other crimes, but still allows officers to write tickets for those violations when stopping vehicles for other reasons or while investigating other crimes.
The nine de-prioritized violations include: having only one license plate displayed, having an expired vehicle registration out-of-date by a year or less, failing to illuminate a vehicle's rear license plate, driving without functioning or illuminated rear taillights, driving without functioning or illuminated rear brake lights, having objects on a vehicle's windows or hanging from the rearview mirror, failing to activate a turn signal more than 100 feet before turning, sleeping in a parked vehicle, and any pedestrian infraction of the California Vehicle Code.
The commission directed the police department to implement the new policy within 90 days.
