Three Black leaders offer one solution to reduce police assaults on Black motorists

Three Black leaders offer one practical solution to reduce police assaults on Black motorists

The Department of Justice announced last week that it will review the use of force by the Memphis Police Department. It also plans to examine the operations of specialized police units such as the one responsible for killing Tyre Nichols.


Patrick Gaspard - László Mudra for the Open Society Foundations
The decision by federal authorities to launch a probe into the events that led to Nichols’ killing is welcome news. We can’t afford to wait for the investigation’s results, however, to fix a problem that endangers Black lives every day: needless traffic stops.

Rashad Robinson - Courtesy of Color Of Change
As three Black men, we know firsthand the worry of whether the everyday act of driving will end in tragedy for ourselves, our brothers and sisters, or nieces and nephews and children — just as it did for Nichols. And as leaders of three of the nation’s largest organizations committed to criminal and racial justice, we understand that there are concrete steps we can take to enact policies that make traffic stops safer for our families and for all Black Americans.


Nicholas Turner - Courtesy Vera Institute of Justice
Statistics show just how dangerous driving while Black can be: Traffic stops are one of the most common ways police encounter the public. Police make 20 million stops each year, according to research. Black motorists are less likely than White drivers to possess illegal items such as drugs or weapons, but they are stopped more often, and after a traffic stop they are more likely to be searched.


Of the more than 1,000 people killed by police each year, 10% involved traffic stops. The most common stated reasons for a traffic stop? One study found that nearly half were for minor issues such as a broken taillight, a defective or missing license plate or tinted windows. Why is this the work of armed police officers?

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