MECKLENBURG COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE VIA TWITTER

The Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office is eliminating traffic stops based on administrative violations such as driving without a license, which disproportionately impact Black drivers.

The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office has ended traffic stops for non-moving violations.

The change, which went into effect last month, lessens the possibility of stops that disproportionately affect Black drivers, is part of the department’s Uniform Traffic Enforcement Policy. According to the new policy, deputies can charge drivers with offenses like driving without a valid license, lack of insurance, or outdated inspection only after stopping a vehicle for more serious or potentially hazardous violations.

Deputies will continue to enforce stops for moving violations such as speeding, running a red light and drunk driving.

“Exercising appropriate discretion in the enforcement of our laws is one of the greatest challenges and one of the greatest responsibilities of any law enforcement officer,” Sheriff Garry McFadden said in a statement. “It is the intention of this new policy to encourage Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Deputies to focus on the most serious and potentially dangerous traffic offenses, while treating all drivers in and through Mecklenburg County equally under the law.” 

The amendments proposed by Forward Justice and the Mecklenburg County chapter of North Charlotte Second Chance Alliance are part of an initiative to address racial disparities in traffic stops in North Carolina, where Black drivers are 95% more likely to be stopped, primarily through regulatory violations.

Black people make up 22% of North Carolina’s population but account for 30% percent of traffic stops according to law enforcement data. White people, by comparison, account for 60% of stops despite accounting for 69% percent of the population.

“Traffic stops can lead to harmful, and sometimes deadly interactions, particularly for people of color,” Whitley Carpenter, senior criminal justice counsel for Forward Justice, one of two groups that proposed the changes, said in a statement. “By eliminating traffic stops for these low-level infractions that do not contribute to public safety, we can begin to minimize unnecessary and potentially harmful interactions between law enforcement and communities and address the racial disparities clearly inherent in these stops.”

Attorneys from the Sheriff’s Office and Forward Justice collaborated on the policy’s development, which requires deputies to pass an exam testing their knowledge of the new procedures. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police policy remains unchanged. 

Data from the UNC School of Government Criminal Innovation Lab show that of the top 10 most charged offenses in Mecklenburg County, 5 of them are regulatory in nature. 

According to data from the State Bureau of Investigation Black people made up 47.7% of known Mecklenburg traffic stops since 2002 despite accounting for 31% of residents. Reducing interactions to moving violations will remove the potential for dangerous confrontations and legal entanglements.

“MCSO also wants to be intentional in ensuring that none of our policies or practices contribute to disproportionality in our criminal justice system and I am confident that our community will be better served as a result,” McFadden said.

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