Police union sues over ban on low-level stops
The Philadelphia Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate a city law banning officers from pulling over drivers for low-level offenses, saying the law illegally preempts existing state laws on traffic violations.
The lawsuit, filed in Common Pleas Court on Tuesday by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 and several of the union’s leaders as individual residents of Philadelphia, also argues that the First Class City Home Rule Act prevents Philadelphia from creating a law counter to those already in place throughout the rest of the state.
The lawsuit asks for declaratory judgment but does not ask for an injunction that would stop the law from going into effect March 3. City officials had initially said enforcement would begin Thursday. The law will prohibit officers from pulling over vehicles solely for a handful of traffic offenses deemed “secondary violations,” such as improperly displayed registration or inspection stickers, and single broken taillights.
In a news release announcing the lawsuit Wednesday, Lodge leaders called the city law irresponsible, saying it would promote unsafe driving without consequences.
Philadelphia is the largest city government in the U.S. to pass a ban on what are sometimes called pretextual stops. Its Driving Equality Bill was passed by the City Council and later enacted through a mayoral executive order in November.
Kevin Lessard, a spokesman for Mayor Jim Kenney, said in a statement that city officials don’t believe the measure jeopardizes public safety and they don’t expect the lawsuit to stop its enforcement.
“The FOP distorts the text and purpose of the Achieving Driving Equality bill and Executive Order, which were needed and implemented to address the disproportionate number of traffic stops experienced by people of color in Philadelphia,” Lessard said.
Critics say the practice has led to Black and Latino motorists being unfairly stopped and searched at disproportionately high rates and sometimes being detained for small infractions. The Defender Association of Philadelphia projected that the enforcement change could mean as many as 300,000 fewer police encounters a year.
The practice has also led to a handful of high-profile deaths: Sandra Bland in Texas, Walter Scott in South Carolina and Daunte Wright in Minnesota were all initially pulled over for pretextual stops.
The lawsuit alleges the law “creates a new class of offenses that law enforcement officers are prohibited from enforcing—impermissibly amending legislation enacted by the General Assembly.” Advocates for law enforcement say such stops can uncover illegal drugs and weapons, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1996 that they were acceptable.
“This is not the issue of reform that they are trying to paint it as. It really hurts the whole city,” said FOP Lodge 5 President John McNesby, who is listed in his individual and professional capacity as a plaintiff.
McNesby said he believes insurance companies will raise rates over the number of drivers without valid registrations, inspections and other issues barred from stops in the city’s measure. He also said he fears criminals will be emboldened if they know they won’t be pulled over.