Friday, January 05, 2024

New California law will change the way police officers interact with drivers, pedestrians

California police officers must now specify the purpose of any traffic stop before asking inquiring questions.

They must precede any chatter with "I pulled you over because .... " 

 They will no longer be able to initially ask the driver, "Do you know why I pulled you over?"

California lawmakers the law to reduce "pretextual stops" or where an officer stops a suspicious vehicle for a minor offense to look for a more egregious crime, KTXL reported.

A second component of the law requires law enforcement agencies to include the reason(s) for all stops on accompanying arrest reports.


Also, the registration sticker displayed on a vehicle’s rear license plate can no longer be the sole basis for an officer to pull over a driver for enforcement action before the second month after the expiration of a vehicle’s registration.

it will also help limit officers’ ability to make “pretextual stops,” or stops that are used as an investigative tool for something completely unrelated to the actual reason for a driver was pulled over.

the new law will require authorities to verify with the DMV if a vehicle does not have up-to-date registration before towing for tags that expired six or more months prior, to prevent penalization of drivers that may have had their stickers stolen.

2 comments:

  1. In other words: registration and insurance are optional now.

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  2. "Do you know why I pulled you over?"... how many people did actually admit they did something wrong after such question? 1 on 10, 1 on 100? From psychological standpoint, it is pretty sneaky.

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