‘Significant Racial Disparities’ Prompted Calls To Change Minneapolis Police Traffic Enforcement Policies

cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp){cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(a){if(a) AnvatoPlayer(“p0”).init({“mcp”:”cbs”,”width”:”100%”,”height”:”100%”,”video”:”5893198″,”autoplay”:false,”titleVisible”:false,”accessKey”:”5VD6Eyd6djewbCmNwBFnsJj17YAvGRwl”,”accessControl”:{“preview”:false},”pInstance”:”p0″,”plugins”:{“heartbeat”:{“account”:”cbslocal-global-unified”,”publisherId”:”cbslocal”,”jobId”:”sc_va”,”marketingCloudId”:”823BA0335567497F7F000101@AdobeOrg”,”trackingServer”:”cbsdigitalmedia.hb.omtrdc.net”,”customTrackingServer”:”cbsdigitalmedia.d1.sc.omtrdc.net”,”chapterTracking”:false,”version”:”1.5″,”customMetadata”:{“video”:{“cbs_market”:”minnesota.cbslocal.com”,”cbs_platform”:”desktop”}}},”comscore”:{“clientId”:”3000023″,”c3″:”Minnesota.cbslocal.com”},”dfp”:{“clientSide”:{“adTagUrl”:”http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=2×2&iu=/4128/cbs.minn&ciu_szs&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=xml_vast2&unviewed_position_start=1&url=[referrer_url]&description_url=[description_url]&correlator=[timestamp]”,”keyValues”:{“categories”:”[[CATEGORIES]]”,”program”:”[[PROGRAM_NAME]]”,”siteSection”:”video-default”}}},”moat”:{“clientSide”:{“partnerCode”:”cbslocalanvatovideo181732609431″}}},”token”:”default”,”expectPreroll”:true,”expectPrerollTimeout”:5});});});

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Minneapolis police will no longer be pulling drivers over for minor offences, such as items dangling from a rearview mirror or not having a working license plate light.

Police Chief Medaria Arradondo wrote in the memo Thursday that the change is an attempt to better utilize time, resources and operational effectiveness.

“By prioritizing the more serious traffic violations and no longer conducting routine traffic stops on the lesser violations mentioned above where it’s the only offense, it will have minimal impact on current MPD traffic enforcement and can also help build trust with the communities we serve,” Arradondo wrote.

According to the chief, the city attorney’s office will no longer prosecute suspended license tickets if the reason for the suspension was a failure to pay a fine or a fee, and there was no other egregious behavior that would impact public safety.

These changes come after a number of other reforms have taken place. However, the police shootings of Philando Castile in 2017 and of Daunte Wright earlier this year prompted a push to change low-level traffic enforcement.

Critics say that traffic stop data highlights racial disparities.

“The community has been asking for this for several years,” said Teresa Nelson, of the ACLU of Minnesota. “There is data that show that these stops have significant racial disparities, and they destroy the relationship between police and community. People feel harassed when people are stopped for these low-level offences.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also responded to the policy change, saying his office has been working with the police and community on traffic enforcement reforms.

“We will soon end stops solely for offences like expired tabs or items dangling from a mirror,” the mayor said. “Another concrete change moving us in the right direction.”

In his memo, Arradondo noted that traffic enforcement remains a key component of public safety. He also believes the change will strengthen the relationship between the community and officers.

More On WCCO.com: