Hennepin ends prosecuting low-level traffic stops

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office will no longer automatically prosecute charges that are related to traffic stops for violations like burned-out brake lights or expired registration tabs.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said officers often use these ‘pretext stops’ to get consent to search people’s cars, which she said studies have shown is ineffective.

“These minor moving and equipment violations are sometimes used as a pretext to stop drivers and search their vehicles, that’s why they are often referred to as ‘pretext stops,’” Moriarty said. “These stops deeply undermine community trust, which has a significant negative impact on law enforcement’s ability to investigate crime and our ability to prosecute cases.”

She said the practice disproportionately has affected Black m