4.11 Police Accountability: Reducing Discretion

In 2022, the nonprofit organization “Mapping Police Violence” published a stunning statistic: from 2017 to early 2022, U.S. police had killed nearly 600 individuals in the course of traffic stops. While this number does not specifically highlight illegal or unjustified uses-of-force, it does illuminate a tremendous loss of life, which might be prevented through different policies. Specifically, several larger policies have begun testing new policies that reduce traffic stops for minor violations, such as a broken taillight or failure to signal. These policies operate under the theory that reducing low-level police-citizen interactions will reduce situations that escalate unpredictably, leading to violence.