Statement on Bipartisan Passage of Driving Equity Bill in Connecticut State Senate

May 10 2023

Earlier this week the Connecticut State Senate passed, with bipartisan support, the Driving Equity Bill (SB 1195), legislation intended to end traffic stops for certain low-level infractions. The Center for Policing Equity (CPE) has been a thought leader, resource, and partner with Connecticut communities and law enforcement agencies for many years, and we welcome the increased understanding that a significant portion of such stops fail to improve safety, even as they carry the risk of debt, trauma, and violence.

The Driving Equity Bill would reclassify several categories of minor traffic violations into secondary offenses, meaning officers could not use them as the sole reason for a traffic stop. These include tinted windows, improper license plate display, minor obstruction of a windshield, a single broken headlight, a broken mirror, and defective horns. In addition, should the bill be signed into law, it would extend the grace period for failure to renew licenses and registration. 

"As in many places in the country, Connecticut is facing a dual public health crisis of traffic crashes and racial disparities in traffic enforcement. The growing national list of tragic but avoidable killings of drivers by police, as in the case of Anthony Jose Vega Cruz in 2019, speaks to an urgent need for meaningful changes in policies, procedures, and practices," said Max Markham, Vice President of Policy & Community Engagement at CPE. "This legislation, based on recommendations from the Police Accountability and Transparency Task Force consisting of community members and law enforcement leaders, represents a modest but important step in the right direction." 

Some law enforcement agencies in the state have already shifted away from low-level enforcement, with excellent outcomes. In Newington, for example, such violations accounted for 40% of stops but after shifting enforcement priorities, the Newington Police Department was able to increase focus on DUI arrests by 250%.

According to the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Advisory Board, Black drivers in Connecticut are almost twice as likely, and Latinx drivers 1.5 times more likely, to be stopped for equipment-related violations compared to White drivers; similarly, Black drivers are 1.2 times, and Latinx drivers 1.3 times more likely, to be stopped for an administrative offense compared to White drivers.

CPE welcomes the efforts behind and informing this bill, and we will continue our work toward fundamental redesigns of the nation's public safety systems to be more effective, just, and equitable.