How to make traffic stops less nerve-wracking? St. Paul police hosting ‘Project Self Stop’

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi — who has said he began viewing the world differently since Philando Castile was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights — announced in 2020 he would no longer prosecute most felonies found during traffic stops that happened for a non-public-safety equipment violation.

An analysis of the first year of data showed the changes led to a significant decrease in stops for equipment violations and dramatically decreased the racial disparity in subsequent vehicle searches, though Black drivers continued to be much more likely to be stopped for a moving violation and have their vehicle searched compared to drivers of other races and ethnicities, according to the Justice Innovation Lab.