Some community members say they support a new policy designed to decrease the amount of low-level traffic stops carried out by law enforcement in Hennepin County.
Last week, Hennepin County Attorney Moriarty announced that her office will not prosecute most felony cases that stem from traffic stops that are not related to public safety.
For example, if police pulled someone over for having an expired registration or a broken taillight and then found evidence of a felony crime, the attorney’s office will presumptively not file charges for the felony. The policy says that exceptions can be made and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Moriarty said the policy will allow police to put more of their limited resources toward tackling dangerous driving, such as speeding and distracted driving.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office says that low-level traffic stops disproportionately impact people of color, particularly Black community members. Moriarty, along with Valerie Castile, the mother of Philando Castile, a Black man who was shot and killed by a St. Anthony police officer in 2016 for having a broken taillight, held a meeting in north Minneapolis on Wednesday night to answer questions from community members.
Valerie Castile said the policy is needed, and said traffic stops can be traumatic and even deadly, like the stop that led to her son’s death. She said her son was routinely pulled over for minor infractions.
“It seems like they go wrong for people of color,” she said of non-public safety traffic stops. “It’s devastating and deadly when it comes to people of color, and it’s no exaggeration.”
Isaiah Jackson attended Wednesday’s meeting and said he thinks police should focus on solving more serious crimes, like murders and missing people. He said Black drivers are disproportionately impacted by traffic stops.
“I’m a new driver, but I definitely feel like a few times I have been picked out of just the category of being Black, for sure, being pulled over,” he told Sahan Journal. “It happens a lot.”
Wednesday’s community meeting was part of the attorney’s office’s efforts to collect more feedback on the policy before it takes effect on Oct. 15.
Daunte Wright, a Black man, was shot and killed by Brooklyn Center police in 2021, after he was pulled over for an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror and for expired vehicle registration. His mother Katie Wright attended Wednesday’s meeting and said she supports the policy, which she said is a step toward reimaging policing.
“If this was implemented and in place, I know for a fact I could say my son had a way better chance of coming home safe,” she told Sahan Journal after the meeting.
Moriarty announced the policy at a news conference last week alongside Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, who instituted a similar policy in 2021. Choi said the effort was controversial when he first implemented it, but has been successful.
“Public safety was not negatively impacted at all,” he said at the news conference. “In fact, the trust that’s been built between the participating police agencies, and my office, with the public is only enhanced.”
Moriarty has been met with criticism from other public safety officials following the announcement of the policy. Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said at a news conference with other law enforcement leaders last week that her staff use low-level traffic stops as a tool to seize illegal guns.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Moriarty told community members that she welcomes feedback from law enforcement. But she said some of the criticism has been “fear mongering,” and that the data is clear that the policy will not make the community less safe.
She said that even though a small percentage of low-level stops may lead to police seizing a gun, that doesn’t outweigh the impact that these stops have on Black drivers.
“In my mind, it is not worth it,” she said at Wednesday’s meeting. “It is not worth the trauma, the potential loss of life when we want police focusing on dangerous driving behavior and solving crimes.”
Amity Dimock, whose son Kobe Dimock-Heisler was killed by Brooklyn Center police in 2019, also attended Wednesday’s meeting. She said she’s seen the policy work well in Ramsey County.
“It’s frustrating to try to have arguments, it’s like having an argument with a wall, like you don’t get anywhere,” she said. “So even if you want to ignore the data, I mean, just literally look over to St. Paul, where I live, and everything is just fine.”
Moriarty announced last month that she will not seek a second term as the county’s lead prosecutor. Her current term expires in January 2027. Valerie Castile said at Wednesday’s meeting that community members should ask candidates for the position if they support the policy.
“We have to be open and honest and ask questions,” she said. “Make sure that they’re going to do exactly what you would like for them to do, because you don’t want to vote anyone in that doesn’t meet your goals and your values.”
