MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city's police officers will no longer conduct "pretextual" traffic stops for low-level offenses.
The policy change was announced as part of the mayor's 2022 budget proposal, unveiled Friday.
According to a city news release, Mayor Frey and Police Chief Medaria Arradondo "have finalized another series of reforms in ongoing efforts to create a more just and accountable system of community safety. 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."
"Our team has been working with community and the MPD on reforms to traffic enforcement," the mayor wrote in a tweet. "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."
A spokesperson from the mayor's office says the language of the policy is still being discussed, but the bulk of the measure in place.
Public safety reform in the city of Minneapolis has been a leading topic of discussion since then-MPD officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd in May 2020. A jury convicted Chauvin of second-degree murder charges earlier this year.
"Investing in accountability from the Minneapolis Police Department is a non-negotiable within Frey’s budget," the city said in a news release.
The mayor's budget proposal includes 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."
Additional community safety funding in the mayor's 2022 budget proposal includes $7.8 million for the Office of Violence Prevention; investments in youth recreation and programming, including $500,000 for youth-specific violence prevention; and $500,000 "for a state-of-the-art early intervention system to ensure supervisors and department leadership have access to real-time data to help inform when an officer may need additional support or are no longer fit to serve."
Mayor Jacob Frey's complete 2022 budget proposal can be found here.
