Denver police will not stop drivers for minor traffic violations as part of a policy change

There’s a new approach to how the city of Denver handles low-level traffic violations.

Cities like Los Angeles and Philadelphia have ordered their police officers to stop stopping drivers for low-level traffic violations. A similar approach is currently taking place in Denver, this time under a new police policy. The stops will not occur regularly in the Mile High City at this time unless there is a real threat to safety.

Denver’s policy was approved May 1 after the City Council proposed the idea to Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas a year ago. It’s based on a study by the Vera Institute of Justice that suggests law enforcement agencies whose officers stop fewer drivers in other cities see an improvement in public safety.

After his own research, Thomas concluded that this was the right time to move forward with this new policy.

“I think we need to use our time more wisely, and that’s why we did a study to find that low-level traffic stops have no impact on safety and no impact on crime reduction, but they do take time and…” If they don’t Related to road safety, I think we need to be careful about how we spend our time,” Thomas said.

According to Thomas, service requests continue to increase. For this reason, they try to invest energy and necessary resources in more serious crimes and respond more efficiently to calls for help.

“To us, a low-level traffic stop is a traffic violation that has absolutely no safety context. Things like speeding, disobeying traffic lights, careless driving, things like that are certain safety violations,” Thomas said.

Safety violations will continue to be a priority for police, including running a red light or stop signs.

“But you know, a headlight off or a taillight off or something like that is very minor and has nothing to do with the safety of the driver,” Chief Thomas said.

This includes things like expired tags.

Under this new current policy, officers must have a reasonable reason to stop a driver. These reasons may include, but are not limited to, suspecting that a more serious crime has occurred, such as reckless driving, drugs, or burglary, before a stop is initiated.

“It just means we’re making better use of our time and focusing on the things that really matter, catching specific violations and making sure we can process those calls quicker. “I think what’s perhaps even more important is the move toward making money and regaining the public’s trust,” Thomas said.

Other cities and states have adopted a similar model. In Los Angeles, minor encounters with police declined after stopping stops for minor violations in 2022.

“A lot of our traffic stops that we would do don’t result in an arrest or a citation, and so obviously we’re not getting what we expect from them.”

Some Denver residents support this new policy.

“Often people rely on these vehicles with minor defects in their vehicles, and when their lives are disrupted by something minor, it can lead to something much worse,” said Dave Clark.

This is another reason why police believe their new approach will be more effective and welcome in the city.

“We also understand that some of the challenges that community members face in paying their bills and making a living, and so we certainly don’t want to impact that,” Thomas said.

Denver resident Chad Brokaw expressed concerns about traffic safety violations. For his own safety, he would like to see stronger police enforcement. However, he supports this for minor violations.

“As far as the headlights and trailers go, if there is more leniency for that, then that makes sense to me,” Brokaw said.

Despite the new directive, Thomas emphasizes the importance of continuing to ensure safety behind the wheel.

“I would just ask people to understand the law and be safe drivers,” Thomas said. “You know, when we stop people, we stop people because we believe there is either an access to a security issue or we believe there is a connection to crime.”

Thomas adds that they are well-staffed as a unit and only want to take this approach to focus on more serious crimes in the city.