Curbing pretextual traffic stops to reduce racial profiling
Lance Hannon, Lindsay Redditt, Brooke Cordes · Policy Press eBooks · 2024
A pretext is a lie, a false justification to avoid accountability. A pretextual stop occurs when a police officer pulls someone over for a minor traffic violation merely as an excuse to investigate whether the person has any outstanding warrants or contraband. Promoted as an integral part of the war on drugs in the 1990s, the practice continues to be widespread throughout the United States. Since nearly everybody commits some form of technical violation when they drive, police officers have the de facto ability to investigate people at random. However, these fishing expeditions are not conducted randomly. Instead, police officers try to maximize their chances of finding someone with contraband or an outstanding warrant by targeting people believed to be more involved in serious crime. Ultimately, by asking police officers to follow their “gut” rather than evidence-based procedure the practice of pretextual stops enables racial profiling. Study after study has shown that people of color are much more likely to endure fruitless investigations during traffic stops. This is especially true for stops justified by non-moving violations, such as having items hanging from the rearview mirror.