On July 11th, the Center for Policing Equity (CPE) joined community members and testified in support of Senate Bill 50 before the California State Assembly Public Safety Committee in Sacramento, California. The bill, introduced by State Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), is designed to prohibit low-level traffic stops for five categories of low-level, technical vehicle code infractions unless there is a separate, independent safety-related basis for the stop.
IE Voice reporter Prince James Story covered the event in a recent article featuring snippets of testimony from CPE's COMPSTAT for Justice Senior Director Charmin J. Leon. The following is an excerpt:
“There are men and women in policing who are waiting on someone to help them do what they do in a smarter fashion. Officers are called professionals, and they want to execute their duties in the way that they are seen as professionals. This does not support that. It undermines the legitimacy of policing as a whole,” said Leon about low-level traffic stops.
In addition to the time consumption of criminalizing low-level traffic offenses, Leon referenced the financial burden for the residents in these communities.
“The fear of police criminalizing low-level stops is because if someone doesn’t pay that ticket, a warrant is sent out for their arrest, and if they’re still unable to pay it, they’re gonna do jail time,” said Leon.
Read the article in full at theievoice.com.