After Castile’s death, program aims to bridge gap between cops, residents

ROSEVILLE, MINN.» The lights from the police car flash blue and red against the white minivan. An African-american family of six sits inside the Nissan Quest in this first-ring suburb of St. Paul on a warm June evening. Mom’s at the wheel, grandma’s in the passenger seat, and four children, including a boy in a wheelchair, fill in the two rows in the back. The car tells a story of poverty: Plastic covers a broken window; rust lines the wheel wells.

Officer Erin Reski pulled the vehicle over for a burned-out taillight, a problem similar to the one that led an officer to stop Philando Castile in the Twin Cities two years ago. That incident rapidly escalated and ended with Castile fatally shot.

This situation ends very differently.

Reski walks back to the minivan after running a check of the driver’s license, insurance and registration. She hands over a sheet of paper and offers a brief explanation. The response is swift and emphatic.

“Oh, thank you!” the driver says.

“God bless you,” the grandmother says.

Scenes like this have been taking place across the Twin Cities thanks to the Lights On program, believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

Instead of writing tickets for minor equipment problems, police officers are authorized to issue $50 coupons so motorists can have those problems fixed at area auto shops.

Twenty participating police departments have given out approximately 660 coupons in a little more than a year.