Police Beat

It's been a while since we checked in on a couple of lawsuits against the Richardson Police Department. First, there's a lawsuit by former police officer Kayla Walker charging the RPD with running an illegal ticket quota system. Walker's lawsuit is still slowly, slowly, making its way through the wheels of justice. Then there's the lawsuit by Neco Bonham, who, as an eighteen-year-old in 2021, was stopped by RPD for what seemed like a routine traffic stop, only to end up Tased, punched, and arrested. The district attorney's office dropped all charges against him. The arresting officer was reprimanded. Bonham sued. I haven't read anything about Bonham's lawsuit in over two years. I did read something about the officer who stopped him — he's still with the RPD and, two years later, was promoted.

That brings us to this week's news.

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The Dallas Morning News has the story: "Woman jailed for expired tags; Allen cop says he smelled marijuana, but there was none". Read it. It's pretty much what you'd expect. A routine traffic stop. Escalated to an arrest. Why? The stated reason ("Allen cop says he smelled marijuana") suggests another — could the expired tags have been a pretext to search for a more serious crime? This is another reason for repeal of the criminal prohibitions of marijuana.

Criminal justice advocates say low-level violations are often used as justification for pretext stops, in which police cite a minor issue to search a car or a driver for weapons or drugs. They’re rarely successful, studies show. And while drivers of color are disproportionately targeted, they’re not more likely to carry contraband.
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Last year, Philadelphia became the first city to make eight low-level offenses, like having a missing bumper or an item hanging from a rearview mirror, insufficient cause for pulling someone over. The window to replace a late registration was extended to 60 days, and if only one taillight is out, cops will leave it be. Drivers can still be fined or ticketed for such offenses, but they can’t be the only reason police make a stop.

Source: Bloomberg.

Philadelphia may have been the first city to rein in pretext stops, but I call on the City of Richardson to go one better. If police stop someone for a moving violation, write a citation and leave. Doing anything else is escalation. Escalation is bad. If the driver is reluctant to talk to the police officer, then leave the citation on the windshield and leave. Just slip out the back, Jack. Make a new plan, Stan. And eliminate "smelled marijuana" as sufficient cause to search a vehicle or person. Hop on the bus, Gus. You don't need to discuss much. Just get yourself free. Richardson will be a mellower city. And more safe, not less.

I don't know how to segue to this next photo, so I won't offer any editorial comment, except to say it's obvious to me why the photo is relevant to the stories above. It's from the "Plano/Richardson Police Academy Picture Day" Facebook reel.

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"One taillight's soft glow,
let it shine on in the night,
Justice lights the way."
—h/t ChatGPT