Major cities are making fewer than half the traffic stops they did before the start of the pandemic, The New York Times reports. Their analysis suggests police may be reassessing traffic stops that can lead to racially biased and even fatal encounters between officers and community members. According to CPE’s Policy Director, Scarlet Neath:
Communities should also reconsider if they really need someone with a gun and a background in detecting crime to fill out speeding tickets, said Scarlet Neath, the policy director at the Center for Policing Equity.
“It is estimated that 7 to 10 percent of all police encounters involve a person who has a mental illness. Most of these encounters do not involve any violence, and some don’t involve a crime at all,” according to information released by the organization. “People with mental illness are no more likely than anyone else to act violently. Despite this, police arrest, injure and kill people with mental illness at higher rates than people without mental illness.”
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