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Pretextual Traffic Stops and Crime

At issue in this argument is the question of pretextual traffic stops, often used by law enforcement as a method to initiate a stop and search of automobiles suspected to involve criminal activity (Meeks 7). For purposes of clarity, this paper will define a pretextual traffic stop as an act involving a police officer stopping a driver for a traffic violation, minor or otherwise, to allow the officer to then investigate a separate and unrelated, suspected criminal offense. Becton (1987) argued that pretextual traffic stops allow police officers wide discretion in whom they choose to stop, and for what reasons they use to justify the traffic stop. "By law, police officers must observe a legitimate traffic violation in order to stop an automobile. Police officers, however, have come under fire from individuals who charge that police officers stop their automobiles based on race rather than any supposed traffic violation." (Becton 844).

Evidence of this charge was largely anecdotal, with police officers around the nation denying that they use the passengers' race as a determining factor in stopping an automobile, countering the charges with claims that they had legitimate reasons for stopping the automobile.

Until the publication of Meeks' study, the issue was largely in the domain of ad hoc charges, that, for the most part, were upheld by courts, with the general finding being that pretextual traffic stops are an effective tool to find and confiscate illegal drugs.

Reacting to this situation, the United States Senate, on April 15, 1999, accepted Senate Bill 821, introduced by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, and entitled Traffic Stop Statistics Study Act of 1999. The purpose of the bill was to

conduct a nationwide study for traffic violations by law enforcement officers. [The bill shall]Require the Attorney General to: (1) perform an initial analysis of existing data, including complaints alleging and other information conce...

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Pretextual Traffic Stops and Crime. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 11:43, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1706062.html