Police in Memphis will no longer be able to make pretextual traffic stops after city officials voted on April 11 to end them.
The Memphis City Council voted unanimously to pass the Driving Equality Act in Honor of Tyre Nichols, named after the 29-year-old black man who died in the hospital on Jan. 10, three days after a violent encounter with five Memphis police officers during a traffic stop.
Pretextual traffic stops allow police to pull vehicles over owing to minor traffic infractions in order to investigate more serious crimes. Such stops may lead to arrests for crimes such as drunk driving, drug possession, and other offenses that are unrelated to the initial reason for the stop….