Connecticut’s police accountability task force sent state lawmakers suggestions to curb disproportionate traffic stops of Black and Hispanic drivers.
Shafiq Abdussabar, a retired New Haven officer on the task force, said the laws governing traffic stops need to be updated and evaluated to see if they’re even necessary.
“We must understand that these laws have not been addressed that are on the books since pre-1965, which would predate the Civil Rights Movement. When many of these laws were made, nobody that made those laws looked like me,” Abdussabar said.
The task force said police shouldn’t pull over drivers for minor violations — sometimes called secondary violations. These include busted headlights, over-tinted windows or a license plate in the back window.
