{"id":4285,"date":"2023-08-17T15:43:53","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T15:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chicagocouncil.org\/staging\/1601\/?p=4285"},"modified":"2023-08-17T16:42:11","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T16:42:11","slug":"pretextual-vehicle-stops-a-pipeline-to-police-testilying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chicagocouncil.org\/staging\/1601\/pretextual-vehicle-stops-a-pipeline-to-police-testilying\/","title":{"rendered":"Pretextual Vehicle Stops\u2014A Pipeline to Police Testilying"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our January 2023 police perjury report<\/a> convincingly demonstrates that the Chicago Police Department (CPD) has a culture that condones dishonesty, prevalent lying in court (\u201ctestilying\u201d) and, false report-writing by police officers. Along with recommendations to improve transparency (some of which have been implemented by the Cook County State\u2019s Attorney\u2019s Office<\/a>) and enforce consequences for lying, which could trigger a cultural shift, we suggest limiting the opportunities for CPD officers to lie or operate unethically with impunity. Prohibiting pretextual traffic stops would be one significant improvement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pretextual traffic stops occur when an officer pulls over a driver for an alleged minor infraction \u2013 an expired registration tag, say, or a burned out taillight. But then the officer uses the stop as an excuse to fish for evidence of a crime unrelated to the original reason for the stop. Most commonly in Chicago, officers ask drivers if they hold a Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card or if they have a gun in the car. The stops are pretextual because officers are not making them to enforce traffic laws\u2014they are making them in an attempt to find illegal guns or other contraband. Pretextual stops are lawful under the Fourth Amendment, but officers must have probable cause to initiate a search of a vehicle. Oftentimes, though, these searches are conducted in an unlawful and discriminatory way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As alleged in a proposed class action lawsuit filed in June<\/a> by five Black and Latino motorists, Wilkins v. City of Chicago<\/em>: \u201cTraffic stops on the city\u2019s predominantly Black and Latino South and West [S]ides\u2026are typically for minor violations\u2014 or for no reason at all\u2014 and are a tool for officers to search and detain minority residents.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traffic stops in Chicago have dramatically increased since 2016. The number of traffic stops conducted by CPD increased<\/a> from 86,000 in 2015 to nearly 600,000 in 2019. After a dip during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, CPD made nearly 500,000 traffic stops in 2022. One of the reasons for the dramatic increase appears to be quotas enforced by CPD. The Wilkins<\/em> lawsuit<\/a> cites emails from CPD commanders telling officers to increase their number of traffic stops. We discuss in the police perjury report<\/a> that, despite the fact that traffic ticket quotas are illegal in Illinois, a 2021 lawsuit against<\/a> CPD and the City brought to light that Deputy Chief Michael Barz essentially enforced quotas requiring more citations. (Quotas on the number of traffic stops, verbal warnings, and arrest quotas remain legal). After [a lieutenant] complained, he was reassigned to a midnight shift in a likely form of retaliation.\u201d Institutional pressures brought on by quotas, whether official or not, can manifest in pressures for police to produce results, which may lead police to cut corners or shade the truth to ensure convictions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pretextual vehicle stops are unethical, often racist, and have a damaging effect on individual drivers and the community at large:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n