ever-tightening budgets , municipalities like Washington , D . C ., Berkeley , Cal- ifornia , Brooklyn Center , Minnesota , and Philadel- phia , Pennsylvania , have implemented unarmed ci- vilian response to traffic stops such as broken tail- lights and other pretextual stops .
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Philadelphia Council Member Isaiah Thomas , author of the Driving Equality Bill , which seeks to prohibit law enforce- ment from stopping drivers for low-level traffic violations , says , “ Data will tell us if we should end more traffic stops or amend how this is enforced . Data will also tell other cities that Phila- delphia is leading on this civil rights issue , and it can be repli- cated .” 2
Proactively partnering across
Philadelphia Council Member Isaiah Thomas
“ POLICE PULL OVER MORE THAN 50,000
DRIVERS ON A TYPICAL DAY , MORE THAN 20 MILLION MOTORISTS EVERY YEAR .” 3
departments and jurisdictions is how leading agencies are im- plementing the reimagined re- sponses .
While the catchphrase may feel overused , it is finding meaning in cooperative public safety solu- tions .
The federal government acknowl- edges both the need for these programs and the associated costs .
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