There's a new approach to how Denver will handle low-level traffic violations. Cities like Los Angeles and Philadelphia have told their police officers to stop pulling drivers over for low-level traffic infractions. Denver police will adopt a similar policy. The stops will not happen in the Mile High City regularly, unless there's a real threat to safety, CBS News reports. Denver's policy was approved on May 1, after the city council suggested the idea to Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas a year ago. It is based on a study by the Vera Institute of Justice that suggests law enforcement departments whose officers are stopping fewer drivers in other cities are seeing an increase in public safety. After doing his own research, Thomas felt this was the right time for the new policy.
"I think we need to be more useful with our time and so, we did some study to identify the fact that one, low-level traffic stops have no impact on safety, no impact on crime reduction, but they do take time, and if they don't have any connection to traffic safety, I think we need to be careful of how we spend our time," said Thomas. Calls for service continue to increase. For this reason, police are looking to invest energy and necessary resources on more serious crimes and respond to calls for service more efficiently. "For us a low-level traffic stop is a traffic infraction that has absolutely no safety nexus, things like speeding, disobedience to traffic signal, careless driving, those kinds of things are certain safety violations," said Thomas. Safety olations will still be a priority for police, which includes driving through a red light or stop signs.
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