A significant change is being made regarding how Minneapolis will not conduct “pretextual” traffic stops for low-level offenses, Mayor Jacob Frey recently announced. 

According to a statement from Frey on Friday, Aug. 13, he, along with the city’s Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, has “finalized another series of reforms in ongoing efforts to create a more just and accountable system of community safety.”

Members of the Minneapolis Police Department seen through a chain link gate on June 13, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The MPD has been under scrutiny from residents and local city officials after the death of George Floyd in police custody on May 25. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

“Effective today, Minneapolis Police Officers will no longer be conducting pretextual stops for offenses like expired tabs, an item dangling from a mirror, or an expired license,” the release said. The memo also said the city attorney’s office “will stop prosecuting tickets for driving after suspension when the only basis for suspension was a failure to pay fines or fees, and there was no accident or other egregious driving behavior that would impact public safety.”

“Our team has been working with community and the MPD on reforms to traffic enforcement,” the mayor wrote in a tweet, on Thursday, Aug. 12. “We will soon end stops solely for offenses like expired tabs or items dangling from a mirror. Another concrete change moving us in the right direction.”

The offenses include “expired tabs, an item dangling from a mirror, or not having a working license plate light.” 

As previously reported, 20-year-old Daunte Wright was shot and killed by former Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter last April. At the time of the incident, Wright had been driving an SUV with expired license plates and broke the city’s law prohibiting motorists from hanging air fresheners and other items from their rearview mirrors. 

Still, the announcement gained applause from justice reform advocates. Moreover, its recent high-profile police-related slayings, including that of Philando Castile in St. Anthony, Minnesota, George Floyd in Minneapolis last year, and that aforementioned in Brooklyn Center, made Minnesota ground zero for justice reform efforts. 

The ACLU of Minnesota addressed the news on Twitter on Friday, calling the new policy “a good step,” adding that it was “time to end policies that penalize people for being poor.”

As a result of scaling back, the mayor’s budget would be allocated to other areas of need in the city. The 2022 proposed budget includes line gems for hiring additional staff in the city attorney’s office for reviewing police disciplinary investigations, as well as a full-time analyst for body camera footage. The budget also funds five recruit classes for MPD with a focus on “community-oriented officers.”

Although the mayor’s office said the new policy would take effect immediately, a spokesman for Frey said details were still being worked out.