San Francisco Police Commission Adopts Policy Against ‘Pretextual Stops'

The San Francisco Police Commission adopted a policy late Wednesday preventing police from making specific types of stops.

Police will no longer be able to stop drivers for things like driving without registration tags or broken tail lights. The idea is to cut down on those so-called "pretextual stops.”

It's a practice where proponents say officers use minor infractions to look for more serious crimes including drugs or weapons possession.

Data shows people of color are stopped on this basis far more frequently.

“Right now it turns out these stops, which are not making anyone safer, are also disproportionately carried out against people of color,” said Max Carter-Oberstone of the San Francisco Police Commission. “It’s unacceptable and they are simply not making anyone safer.” 

Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Oakland have a similar policy in place.