NC CopWatch Used in Advocacy to End Regulatory Stops in Mecklenburg County

On September 19, 2022, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) adopted a new policy to end regulatory stops for non-moving violations.

Forward Justice and the North Carolina Second Chance Alliance – Mecklenburg County Chapter presented the proposal to Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry L. McFadden and his staff in an effort to address the racial disparities that are apparent in traffic stops in North Carolina. During the presentation, Forward Justice attorneys emphasized how racial disparities are reinforced by investigative and regulatory stops.

Forward Justice utilized data from NCCopWatch.org, to explain that while Black people make up only 30.8 percent of people living in Mecklenburg County, they make up 47.7 percent of the area’s traffic stops.

The data showed that although traffic stops are the most common police interaction, in North Carolina, Black people are about 22 percent of the population yet 30 percent of traffic stops. Comparatively, white people are 69 percent of the population but 60 percent of traffic stops – making Black drivers 95 percent more likely to be stopped. Additionally, data from the UNC School of Government Criminal Innovation Lab shows that of the top 10 most charged offenses in Mecklenburg County, 5 of them are regulatory in nature.

A simple solution was proposed: to eliminate non-moving and non-safety-related regulatory traffic stops. MCSO attorneys worked with Forward Justice attorneys over the following months to develop, draft, and adopt this new policy for Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the new policy, deputies may charge a driver with regulatory offenses only after having stopped a vehicle for a more serious and/or potentially hazardous violation; however, regulatory offenses cannot be the sole basis for a traffic stop. Examples of regulatory offenses include financial responsibility violations (i.e. no insurance), vehicle inspections violations, certain driver’s license violations such as driving while license revoked, certain vehicle equipment violations such as improper mufflers, non-working head and rear lamps, window tinting, and a number of other non-moving violations enumerated in the policy.

MCSO is requiring deputies to acknowledge receipt of the new policy and successfully pass an exam that specifically tests deputies on their knowledge of the recent changes.

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