Pittsburgh City Council advanced a proposal to stop city police from pulling over motorists for secondary traffic violations, despite concerns that it could make roads less safe and prevent police from uncovering more serious crimes during minor traffic stops.

Proponents said the measure would address a disproportionate number of traffic stops involving people of color and reduce the likelihood of traffic stops escalating into violent incidents.

The legislation, introduced by City Councilman Ricky Burgess in early November, would prohibit police from pulling over a motorist for minor, secondary offenses, such as:

Having a burned-out brake light or headlight. Having an improperly placed license plate or temporary tag, as long as it visible. If their registration, inspection sticker or emissions sticker was expired by less than two months.

“A lot of cities across the nation have talked about reimagining police,” Burgess said Wednesday, suggesting the legislation is one way Pittsburgh could put that concept into action.

Council members made some tweaks to the originally proposed legislation with input from Police Chief Scott Schubert and Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich.

The proposed changes would allow for a 120-day training period to ensure officers understand the new law before it is enacted. It also provides for an annual review process “to make sure it’s being effective,” Burgess said.

A third element would create the 60-day grace period for late vehicle and emissions inspections. If a car inspection was expired for more than 60 days, officers would be allowed to pull over that vehicle, under the legislation.

“We don’t want unsafe vehicles,” Burgess said, explaining that the measure gives people extra time to get an inspection without allowing cars to go uninspected for lengthy periods of time — something Hissrich said was a major safety concern.

Burgess has said the measure could address the fact that traffic stops are more prevalent in Black communities.

Pittsburgh Police data show that officers conducted 4,650 traffic stops involving Black motorists in 2020, compared to 4,513 involving white motorists and 120 involving Hispanic or Latino motorists. About 23% of Pittsburgh’s residents are Black, just more than 3% are Hispanic or Latino and 65% are non-Hispanic or non-Latino white, according to Census figures.

“There is a problem that needs to be addressed,” Hissrich said regarding the disproportionate number of traffic stops involving people of color.

The proposal generated debate among council members.

While Councilman Bruce Kraus said he didn’t “want to go anywhere near (a measure to) defund the police,” he said he does want to ensure that policing in Pittsburgh is done with “a spirit of protect and serve” rather than creating an environment where residents, particularly minorities, feel they are being overpoliced.

“Traffic stops have the potential to go awry,” he said.

Traffic stops also often result in fines, Councilwoman Deb Gross said. She said fining people who were perhaps already unable to pay to repair broken brake lights may be compounding existing financial hardships. In some cases, she said, a traffic stop can lead to someone ending up in debt or even being arrested if they don’t pay their fines.

“This is not police reform, in my opinion,” Councilman Anthony Coghill said.

He cited statistics showing that from 2018 through 2020, Pittsburgh Police conducted about 52,000 vehicle stops. Of them, only 11 resulted in police pulling out a taser or firearm or using another method of physical restraint. In only one instance did an officer fire his gun, and that was only after someone in the vehicle fired at him, Coghill said.

“The stats don’t play out where I feel this is necessary at this point,” he said.

Coghill also said he was concerned that people would feel they could drive within city limits with burned-out headlights and brake lights and other minor violations that could become dangerous.

“It’s a safety issue, period,” said Coghill, who recommended waiting until Mayor-elect Ed Gainey, who ran on promises of police reform, took office.

Councilman Bobby Wilson said officers have told him that traffic stops for minor violations sometimes lead to them discovering illegal weapons or drugs. He said eliminating such traffic stops would mean police had fewer opportunities to get those illegal drugs and guns off the streets.

“Obviously, there would be a reduction in vehicle stops,” Hissrich said, acknowledging that officers do sometimes find larger issues after pulling someone over for a minor violation.

Council members voted to advance the legislation and it could be ready for a final vote as early as Monday. Council President Theresa Kail-Smith abstained from voting, saying she sees “both sides of this” and needs more information ahead of the final vote, while Coghill voted against the measure. Councilman Corey O’Connor was absent.

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