Sacramento, California – Just when you thought California couldn’t mess with cops any more, Governor Newsome signed AB 2773, which is designed to end “pretextual stops.” A pretextual stop is when a violator is stopped for a crime but the officers is looking for a more serious crime.
Before there world was made to believe this was a bad thing, this was also called “police work.”
From the Oklahoma City Bombing suspect to the Unabomber, you guessed it, a stop for something minor resulted in something much bigger.
Starting January 1, 2024, California cops will no longer be able to as drivers, “Do you know why I pulled you over?”
Specifically, the law says this:
This bill would, beginning on January 1, 2024, require a peace officer making a traffic or pedestrian stop, before engaging in questioning related to a criminal investigation or traffic violation, to state the reason for the stop, unless the officer reasonably believes that withholding the reason for the stop is necessary to protect life or property from imminent threat. The bill would, beginning on January 1, 2024, require the officer to document the reason for the stop on any citation or police report resulting from the stop.
Voting Has Consequences
This is a pretty silly law, designed to make others feel better but in reality it will do very little. Cops will still stop cars but instead of a friendly “slow down” next time, this law requires them to state the reason for the stop and to document it.
Our advice…No problem.
If Governor Newsome wants robot cops, that’s exactly what we recommend and we would make sure that every driver is aware of why.
Here is a suggested script:
“Hello, my name is —— and I stopped you today for ___________. In the past, I think you would have been responsible enough to accept my warning and we would both move on to our important day but Governor Newsome recently passed a law that mandates that I tell you why I stopped you and that I document that reason on any citation or police report. Since I don’t do police reports for traffic stops, I will have to issue you a citation to comply with this law.”
What are your thoughts?
