BEL AIR, Md. — The video starts with a law enforcer monitoring traffic.
“Sarge, that guy’s driving with no headlights.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I see him. Hope he can see where he’s going.”
Never one to be shy about what he views as attacks on law enforcement, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler is sending a message on social media.
“Sarge, did you see that? He made an illegal U-turn right in front of us. We have to stop that car.”
“Wow, you’re right. Illegal U-turn and he almost hit that guy. Hope everybody’s alright.”
In a two-minute-long video, the department shows what could happen if lawmakers in Annapolis pass Senate Bill 292, which would characterize a long list of violations as “secondary” prohibiting officers from making stops solely based on those infractions.
“We had over a million people watch that video that we kind of made poking fun at a silly bill, but the reach has been incredible,” said Gahler, “I’ve heard from people all over the country.”
Sponsors of such bills have suggested cutting down on traffic stops could decrease racial disparities in such enforcement.
Officers who violate the restrictions would even be subject to administrative discipline, but Gahler says not only is safety at issue, but also the extraordinary busts that come from otherwise ordinary traffic stops.
“Just last night, one of our deputies stopped a vehicle for a tag light out and that vehicle was involved in thefts from a business in the area,” said Gahler, “There was a case in Florida yesterday where one of the FBI’s Top Ten was taken down because of bad tags. If this were to pass here, we wouldn’t be able to make those types of traffic stops.”
Or those involving something as simple as tossing trash out of your window…
“Oh, that dirty litter bug. What is he thinking?” an officer says in the video as someone drives by tossing trash out of their car window, before cutting to an image of the officer picking it up from the street instead of pulling the vehicle over.
“I guess I can clean up after him."
To watch the video, click below.
