The San Francisco Police Commission has recently approved new regulations that bar police officers from conducting traffic stops for certain infractions, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Commission's decision, passed with a 4-3 vote, enforces restrictions on officers, disallowing them from pulling over vehicles for minor violations such as broken taillights or hanging air fresheners, under the pretext of checking for more serious offenses.
According to the Chronicle, the new policy states, "While this Department General Order (DGO) deprioritizes stops for nine categories of low-level offenses ... it still leaves open multiple avenues for enforcement. For example, members may still issue citations to parked cars for any applicable offense."
Advocates of the measure argue that it will help combat racial profiling, referencing data from the state attorney general revealing a higher rate of traffic stops involving black motorists in 2020.
In contrast, opponents express concerns regarding traffic safety implications. Commissioner Jesus Yez supported the policy by stating, "Focusing resources on violent crime and not on pretextual stops is a commonsense approach," as per the Chronicle.
San Francisco Police Officers Association President Tracy McCray criticized the decision, stating, "We have a body of self-anointed experts who know nothing about police work, yet they author policy after policy preventing our officers from doing their jobs in a manner that will protect public safety. Its shameful."
Furthermore, in 2023, several major retailers, including Target, Whole Foods, Nordstrom, and T-Mobile, closed their San Francisco locations, attributing the closures to the city's rising crime rates.
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