San Francisco police banned from conducting traffic stops under the pretext of misdemeanor starting July 17

Data shows that San Francisco police stopped a disproportionate number of black and brown drivers.

The new rule prohibits police from stopping people for a small number of traffic violations, such as failing to follow safety instructions or driving with a long-expired license plate. However, the new rule gives police some leeway in enforcing these violations, such as when a vehicle is parked or when the violation is not the only reason a driver is stopped.

“The purpose of this blanket ordinance is to curtail the practice of stopping vehicles for minor traffic violations under the guise of investigating hunchbacks that do not constitute reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed,” the ordinance states. “Pretextual stops are disproportionately directed against people of color and provide negligible public safety benefits. The fiscal, human, and societal costs they impose on our city are unjustified in light of the more effective public safety tools available to the Department.”

The practice was defended by the San Francisco Police Association, which argued that many minor infractions, such as a broken tail light, led to officers seizing drugs and guns.

On July 5, the union tweeted an image of a weapons cache that officers allegedly obtained through a covert check.