Traffic stops are the most common way
people interact with police. Police use these non-safety violations as a “pretext” to detain and search people, wreaking untold economic, physical, psychological, and intergenerational harm, especially against communities of color.
It’s time to get serious about who is stopped and why.
New Policy Restricts SFPD’s Use of Pretext Stops
Starting on July 17, 2024, the SFPD can no longer use certain infractions to conduct a traffic stop. Read the policy here.
To understand the new restrictions on SFPD traffic stops, click here to know your rights!
About the Coalition
The Coalition to End Biased Stops is a broad-based group of community organizations and advocates committed to ending racially biased, low-level traffic stops by police in San Francisco because they do not make San Francisco safer.
Police have the power to choose who to stop so long as they spot even the smallest of violations.
A traffic stop, then, can become a way for officers to investigate a pedestrian, bicyclist, driver, or passenger(s) on a hunch that they may be engaged in further criminal activity, which is subject to bias.
On May 11, the Coalition to End Biased Stops held a virtual press conference to call for an to end racially biased traffic stops. The press conference was held ahead of the San Francisco Police Commission meeting on the evening of May 11, introducing potential reforms to the SF Police Department’s traffic enforcement policies. Now that Commissioner Max Carter-Oberstone has introduced the review process of DGO 9.01, the policy that governs traffic enforcement, we have begun a crucial public comment period.
On August 18, GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice and the Coalition to End Biased Stops presented a free virtual event to engage the community in a conversation about racial profiling and policing. This event was held to share more about exciting developments in our campaign to end racially biased traffic stops in San Francisco.
We are celebrating a historic policy! On January 11, 2023 the San Francisco Police Commission voted to adopt a comprehensive policy to curtail racially-biased traffic stops. Thank you to everyone who supported this 18-month advocacy effort!
Over the summer and fall of 2022, several listening sessions were held for community members to voice their concerns, feedback, and suggestions on police activity and practices. Participants were able to voice their experiences with the police and make suggestions on what could be done to reduce biased stops.
On January 11, 2023, the San Francisco Police Commission voted 4 – 2 to pass Department General Order (DGO) 9.07, a policy which will limit the use of pretext stops and consent searches by the San Francisco Police Department. In its current form, as the DGO heads to the meet and confer process with the Police Officers Association, the new set of rules constitutes the most comprehensive policy in the country to address racially biased policing.
