ROCKVILLE, Md. — According to an audit of the county police department, drivers in Montgomery County are more likely to be pulled over and searched if they are Black or Hispanic and one councilmember says fixing that is more important than tickets for minor offenses.
Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando remembers right after high school Montgomery County police pulled him over for minor infractions more than 10 times in one year - while he was working for the police department.
"I started wearing my police I.D. around my neck to help prevent that from happening. And it helped, which you shouldn't have to have," said Jawando.
Tuesday, Councilmember Jawando introduced a bill that would prohibit county police from stopping drivers for low-level offenses like a single broken tail light, expired tags, or tinted windows.
"People have these things all the time. But who's pulled over for them?" Jawando asked alluding to data he says is behind his bill.
According to a 2022 audit of Montgomery County traffic stops, people of color are disproportionately more likely to be pulled over.
It found about 30% of all traffic stops and 43% of all searches on traffic stops were of Black drivers in a county where only 18% of all adults are Black.
Jawando believes those numbers would improve if police needed a more serious reason to pull people over.
"I think it's a win-win to build community trust and also focus our police on the most urgent traffic safety and crime prevention issues," he said.
But, Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones told WUSA9 in a statement Jawando's bill is "bad legislation and will make Montgomery County less safe."
Chief Jones says the data is flawed because it is based census numbers and not the driving population. Jones says if the bill passes it "...will have a negative impact on morale for our police officers."
"Change is hard. But we have to do it," said Jawando who believes he has the support on the County Council to pass the bill.
The bill would not change an officer's ability to pull someone over for more serious offenses like speeding, reckless driving, or driving under the influence.
And, if a driver is pulled over for something serious and has another minor infraction they could still get a ticket for that too.
The bill is set for public comment on June 13.