Originally published at: Philly bans low-level traffic pull-overs | Boing Boing
…
6 Likes
10 Likes
I’ve never heard of a police related shooting at state inspection sites. So yeah, perhaps that is where they need to be enforcing and fixing things in lieu of stopping people on the road for reasons.
7 Likes
This is a great start, now take half of the Police Budget [in every major city] and give it to Social Services, then you’re doing something.
12 Likes
Good. I fucking hate all the BS enforcement of the inane traffic laws. Yeah, no shit, my tags expired. I need $1500 to get my car to where it will pass inspection, but i don’t have $1500 and I need to get to work. But hey, now I have a $100 ticket and I have to show up in court where they won’t let me pay my fine and get on with my life until I show have the car registered and insured. Good work, another dangerous criminal off the street.
(This exact scenario happened to me, but I was saving up for a new to me car and able to get one. There are A LOT of people where such scenario would fuck them. A program I would like to see in cities is one to get beater cars working for people, and if they don’t have a car, get them one that will get them to work and back. It would enable people way more options as far as employment goes.)
To be clear, I do find cops enforcing actual safety laws that pose a hazard something we probably need. Like speeding, hauling a dangerous load (I saw a guy almost lose it when his trailer started to wobble), or driving dangerously. (Fun Fact, other than going the same way as the rest of the traffic, motorcycles don’t have to follow any of the traffic laws.) A tail light, expired registration, and other minor infractions that don’t actually pose a danger at best puts a burden of a fine on someone, and at worse either turns them into a criminal because they can’t pay the fines or fees to make what ever the issue is right - or it is used for fishing to further trample civil rights.
9 Likes
Philly bans low-level traffic pull-overs
AKA pretexts for harassing PoC. It’s a measure of how institutionalised racism is in this country that cost-conscious white taxpayers don’t blink an eye when it came to a practise that results in increased spending for no real benefit.
5 Likes
Great. But as we all learned with the case of Eric Garner, the cops officially not being allowed to do something is absolutely no impediment to them actually doing it, especially if there’s no consequences. If cops in New York are willing to use illegal choke holds, Philly cops will still pull over Black men for any or no reason.
Also, I noted this in the article:
The department plans to retrain officers over the next four months before the change is implemented.
Fantastic. Expect a few “incidents” in Philadelphia before March while they still have official cover.
3 Likes
Gritty is doing a happy dance because you know he has got likely a couple issues with his beater car.
And as a person of orange color, I bet he gets stereotyped as some sort of muppet…
3 Likes
Getting mystery tickets in the mail sounds more like a bug than a feature.
"… Instead, the cops will take a photo of the license plate and the car owner will get a ticket in the mail. Here is a list of infractions that are on the no-stop list:
…
Having a registration plate that’s not clearly displayed, fastened, or visible"
Getting a picture of a non-visible plate might be quite challenging.
1 Like
I had a similar registration issue a number of years ago that came back to bite me hard recently as apparently there was a bench warrant in my name for failing to make my court appearances. I’d moved (still was in the same state) and somehow in the intervening 10 years this warrant had not come up. Cue one night getting pulled over for a minor infraction and ending up spending the weekend in county holding, missed two days of work as well!
4 Likes
Oi! What’s wrong with Muppets. They are a proud people with a storied history, I’ll have you know!
5 Likes
Though they always seem to be under the influence of… like, some other controlling hand or something…
