Hoping to reduce violent interactions between citizens and police, the Black Political Empowerment Project wants to make it less likely drivers will be pulled over for a broken tail light or expired registration.
The group, a social services organization based in the Hill District, is urging Pittsburgh City Council to pass legislation that would reduce or end traffic stops for secondary violations. After more than seven months since its first call to action, CEO and chairman Tim Stevens spoke to council again on Wednesday to encourage action.
“Our theory has been, for too many years, negative things have happened because of traffic stops,” Mr. Stevens said. “Fewer traffic stops will reduce violence.
“The time is now.”
Councilman Ricky Burgess, who is sponsoring the legislation, hopes to see a vote soon but, on Wednesday, pushed it back a week.
B-PEP first urged council to end or reduce traffic stops in April, following the death of Daunte Wright, a Black man in Brooklyn Center, Minn., who was shot and killed by police after being pulled over for expired registrations.
The call to action came the same day that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering another Black man, George Floyd.
“With the background in our hearts and minds of the death of George Floyd … the Black Political Empowerment Project is calling upon all of our area police departments to fully review and update their use of force policies so as to hopefully avoid tragedies such as the death of Mr. Floyd,” B-PEP wrote in its April letter.
In Pittsburgh, Black men were three times as likely to experience a traffic stop as white men in 2019, according to data from the Community Task Force on Police Reform. After traffic stops, 3% of Black men were frisked, compared to 0.3% of white men.
There were 9,912 individuals involved in traffic stops in 2020, according to an annual report from the city’s Department of Public Safety.
Of those, 3,238 were Black men and 1,405 were Black women. Another 2,984 were white men and 1,529 were white women.
The proposed ordinance would prevent police officers from stopping a motor vehicle for “secondary violations,” like operating without evidence of an official inspection or an emissions inspection. Officers could only initiate the traffic stop if there was also a primary violation, like speeding or running a stop sign.
The ordinance hasn’t cleared all of its legislative hurdles yet.
On Wednesday, Rev. Burgess proposed delaying a vote to bring the ordinance to city council for a final vote until next week.
He and Councilman Anthony Coghill, who represents the South Hills, are meeting with the police chief and public safety director Friday to discuss the legislation, Rev. Burgess said.
After that, “next week, [we] hope to pass it,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety said Wednesday “Public Safety looks forward to closely reviewing the ordinance and working with Reverend Burgess and City Council.”
Meanwhile, city council also delayed a vote to establish a permanent Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.
The office, which Mayor Bill Peduto introduced earlier this month, would build on the administration’s Welcoming Pittsburgh roadmap that it released in 2015 as a guide for work to support immigrant, refugee and new American communities. The proposed office would work on increasing language translation services, continue development of multicultural training for public safety officials and advise other departments on engagement strategies and policy reform.
Councilwoman Deb Gross, whose district includes parts of Bloomfield, Highland Park, Lawrenceville, Morningside and the Strip District, wanted more information on how the proposed office would “intersect” with the administration’s broader equity goals before taking a vote.
Rev. Burgess argued the creation of such an office should be left to the incoming administration, which will take charge in January, since it would impact the city’s budget.
“Now, on Nov. 17, a few weeks before the end of the administration, we’re now trying to make a structural change,” he said. “I am not in favor of creating these changes because they’re not minor changes.
“My advice is for this process to wait until January. The work will continue, the initiative will continue,” Mr. Burgess said, adding that it had continued in the years since the administration launched the roadmap but did not create a permanent office.
Council voted to hold the ordinance for another four weeks, meaning it will come up again for consideration in December.
Next week, city council is expected to vote on an ordinance that would mandate the use of electronic signatures by city departments, permanently shifting some of its operations online after the COVID-19 pandemic first forced them to adjust nearly two years ago.
In that time, the city estimates virtual signatures have helped to save about 108 trees, enough waste to fill 96 trash cans and enough gallons of water to fill about 75 washing machines, according to the ordinance.
The digital shift also helped increase efficiency and decrease the likelihood that documents would get lost in transit while awaiting more signatures. The proposed legislation would entail “changing policies to ensure that productivity could continue,” the ordinance reads.
Lauren Rosenblatt: lrosenblatt@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1565.
First Published: November 17, 2021, 11:19 p.m.
