Portland will shift its focus from low-level traffic offenses and change the process of vehicle searches to reduce “racial disparities,” city officials announced on Tuesday.
Officials opted to forgo most enforcement of expired tags, equipment issues, and similar offenses to focus instead “on enforcing traffic violations that are a direct threat to public safety,” Mayor Ted Wheeler wrote in a Twitter thread. The city will also mandate officers to follow “new consent search procedures,” requiring “more documentation” and “more information” to people who encounter law enforcement wanting to examine their vehicle.
“We have more work to do, but these changes reflect calls from the community, particularly from Black Portlanders, to change how [the Portland Police Bureau] conducts traffic stops and consent searches,” Wheeler wrote. “We will track resulting data and ensure these changes have the intended outcomes of increasing equity and safety in our city.”
PORTLAND MAYOR BANS POLICE USE OF TEAR GAS TO DISPERSE CROWDS
Portland police will still retain the right to “be able to make stops allowed by state law and bureau directives,” including low-level traffic offenses in some circumstances, Lt. Greg Pashley told the Oregonian. Drivers suspected of DUI or DWI are an exception to the new search directives.
In February, city leaders approved a similar policy in Berkeley, California, that limited stops for seat belt violations and expired tags. The package of laws also requires police to get written consent before searching a motorist’s vehicle.
At the time, Mayor Jesse Arreguín said the move “will reduce racial disparities and reduce the tragic outcomes we’ve too often seen, people like Daunte Wright … who died due to police violence in routine traffic stops.”
Berkeley, CA, will end police stops for “minor traffic violations.”
Mayor @JesseArreguin said the move “will reduce racial disparities and reduce the tragic outcomes we’ve too often seen, people like Daunte Wright…who died due to police violence in routine traffic stops.” pic.twitter.com/64fQmOYkiv
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 23, 2021
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Wheeler’s announcement comes amid an alarming crime surge in the area. In May, the city has seen a 400% uptick in murder, a 10% increase in larceny, a 52% jump in motor vehicle thefts, and a 59% increase in robbery, compared to numbers from the same time frame in 2020, according to an analysis of police crime data performed by the Washington Examiner.
