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Traffic Stops <br />Traffic enforcement is an important community safety concern. The Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety <br />reported statewide in 2018, 381 people were killed on Minnesota roadways. Statewide in 2018, there <br />were 79,215 traffic crashes with 27,877 injuries. The estimated cost of traffic crashes to Minnesotans <br />was $1,875,540,500. The City of Maplewood is not immune to these tragedies and experienced both <br />motorist and pedestrian deaths in 2019. In 2018, Maplewood recorded 499 total crashes with four fatal <br />and 184 injury crashes11. Official numbers for 2019 will not be available until mid -2020. <br />As with most cities, the City of Maplewood has vehicles used as a part of many crimes. The City of <br />Maplewood has one of the highest rates of auto theft in the metro area. The Maplewood Police <br />Department has received a grant from the State of Minnesota Commerce Department funding an auto <br />theft detective. Detective McCarty began working as an auto theft detective in the fourth quarter of <br />2019. It is important for the community to know, the Maplewood Police Department does not use <br />automated license plate readers as part of our investigative or enforcement activity. <br />In 2019, officers continued the practice of logging specific traffic stop data in the computer-aided <br />dispatch program that is not normally obtained on other citizen contacts. The information gathered by <br />each officer on each stop is; the perceived sex (male or female) of the driver contacted, the perceived <br />race of the driver, the primary reason for the stop, if the driver was searched, if the vehicle was <br />searched, and how they cleared the call. Unlike the City of Maplewood records, the CAD information <br />lists Hispanic/Latino as a separate race, not an ethnicity. For the race, officers can choose from White, <br />Black, Latino, Asian, Native American, or other. <br />Officers are instructed to use the first reason they observed for the stop as the reason for the stop. <br />Many times officers have multiple reasons for a stop. If an officer sees a speeding, with illegal window, <br />and runs the plate and finds the registered owner has a warrant, the officer has three articulable <br />reasons to conduct a lawful stop but has to select moving violation for the reason as only one entry can <br />be made per stop. This is important as many of the first observations are for a moving violation or an <br />equipment violation, yet additional reasons for the stop are the true reason for the stop to occur like the <br />example above. <br />Below are the identified criteria for each stop reason: <br />Moving Violation <br />A violation committed by a driver/passenger while a vehicle is on the road. <br />• Speeding, swerving over the line, signaling turns, blocking traffic <br />• Littering, disobeying traffic signs or signals, incomplete stop, loud music <br />Vehicle Violation <br />Equipment affixed to vehicles or equipment is not operable. <br />o Registration issues to include expired tabs, revoked plates, no license plates, no <br />temporary plate documentation <br />o Broken or burned out lights, no license plate light, cracked windshield, illegal lights on <br />the vehicle <br />o Loud muffler <br />11 Minnesota Traffic Crashes in 2018. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2020, from <br />https://d ps.mn.gov/divisions/ots/reports-statistics/Documents/2018-crash-facts.pdf <br />