Hennepin County law enforcement leaders say they’re concerned about a new policy to limit prosecuting charges arising from low-level traffic stops.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced the policy earlier this week. It targets stops for vehicle violations like dead brake lights and expired tabs, which officers can use to start a search of someone’s vehicle — also known as “pretext stops.” Starting next month, Moriarty’s office will not prosecute most cases that come out of those stops.

Moriarty cited data that these stops disproportionately target Black drivers, and said the practice decreases trust in police.

But Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said in a press conference Friday that those traffic stops are a strategy to seize illegal guns and drugs.

“With that amount o

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