Berkeley moves to replace police with unarmed civilians for traffic stops | Hacker News Reader

Berkeley moves to replace police with unarmed civilians for traffic stops

theguardian.com

25 pointsmichaelrkn17 comments

(Article is 7 months old. I’m too early in coffee to look for newer articles but mentioning in case others might fill in the gap.)

This is fantastic news. I can say as a white male-presenting person, I find traffic stops intimidating even though I know I’m far less likely to experience violence in the course of one. I can hardly imagine the experience of people of color being approached in their car by someone with gun and taser, knowing a failing brake light or similar malfunction could lead to violence.

Edit: clicked send by too soon accident, see above re not enough coffee.

Eliminating that possibility will undoubtedly make traffic stops more safe, and probably also less frequent.

"I can hardly imagine the experience of people of color being approached in their car by someone with gun and taser, knowing a failing brake light or similar malfunction could lead to violence."

Police don't shoot people just for traffic violations. If a drunk driver does not want to give his car keys to the unarmed civilian, then what happens?

I am a "person of color" (South Asian-American) and have had my car stopped 3 times by a white policeman, each time for a plausible reason. I complied with the policeman and was in no danger of being shot. Exaggerated suspicion of and resistance to the police is what gets people killed.

> If a drunk driver does not want to give his car keys to the unarmed civilian, then what happens?

He writes the license plate down, calls 911, and notifies police. It's not rocket science.

I would say that your experience probably can't be extrapolated to everyone's experience. I can equally describe several situations I or people I know have experienced that qualify as highly aggressive, unwarranted policing for minor traffic stops. I know people who have been arrested for a broken taillight, sitting in a running car in a parking lot, driving aimlessly through a neighborhood while lost, and other scenarios.

Heck, I'm a standard white guy and I got screamed at by a police officer 20 years ago at a random speeding stop because I didn't know that there was a faster way to get back to the highway I was trying to get to in an area I was unfamiliar with (this was pre-GPS). Top of his lungs threatening me, hand on his nightstick - it was terrifying.

"He writes the license plate down, calls 911, and notifies police. It's not rocket science."

Yes, but obviously the drunk driver may cause an accident before he is apprehended. A policeman has the power to prevent that.

Because a civilian and a partner couldn't park a car in front of and behind the drunk driver's car?

Shit, just get some wheel chocks

Others have a different experience. The video of this is absolutely chilling.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Philando_Castile

as a south asian myself (srilankan), Im quite familiar with the systematic discrimination we face. That said, it pales in comparison to what my black friends have to deal with. Violence against black men during routine traffic stops is a legitimate fear for them.

Any one else find traffic stops vary greatly by county/state? In GA I would get pulled over once a month. In CO I got pulled over once a decade. My driving was the same in both places. Never figured out what that was about, I just assumed the county in GA needed money.

I am convinced that in Georgia and Arizona they pull over almost anyone with an out of state plate

Georgia pulls over all out of state plates since there is a use tax and states like Montana allow you to register for significantly less money.

Varies massively by police agency.

Some use it as a profit center. Some are fishing. Some would rather be doing anything else.

It's a horribly perverse incentive. Give 0% of the fines to the police and you'll see traffic stops drop drastically.

Is that good? I see people driving 70 in a 25, driving on the wrong side of the road and forcing other drivers off, and passing in the parking lane or bike lane, and swerving towards pedestrians and spitting on people. What I’ve never seen is a traffic stop on a city street. Ever. On highways sure, but never ever on city streets. There can be street racers driver 40 mph over the speed limit 4 abreast at 2 am, and the best you can do is make a video to post on Twitter. I have simply never seen traffic enforcement. And it’s bad. Multiple friends have been hit by cars walking, one severely. That’s the only one where the car even stopped.

Yes - don’t give police the fines. Tie their performance to bringing down accident numbers.

I would like to see the outcome of this policy applied just down the road in Oakland.

Hundreds of cities looted and go up in flames and boarded up. Murder rate doubles. Every child molester and cop killer is release. Drug cartel and jihadis and marxists laugh at us as we pay them to plague and murder us.

Biden's president, and Lady Gaga's dog goes missing. Now it's a problem. Never mind the guy who was shot multiple times.

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