California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters was seen pulling over to keep an eye on police who were conducting a traffic stop involving a Black man in Los Angeles, according to a report.
The California Democrat was driving in her home district over the weekend when she parked her car and walked over to the L.A. County Sheriff patrol car, TMZ reported. “They stopped a brother so I stopped to see what they were doing,” Waters said on the video.
Waters said an officer told her she was parked illegally. “They said I’m in the wrong place and they’re going to give me a ticket. That’s OK as long as I watch them,” she continued.
In light of racial injustice and police brutality protests across the country, some left-wing activists have suggested ceasing routine traffic stops by police officers. Berkeley, Calif., moved forward with a proposal last week to eliminate police from conducting traffic stops and instead send unarmed civilian city workers.
Though many cities have proposed sweeping police reforms in the wake of racial injustice protests, the plan to separate traffic violations from law enforcement is believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S.
Black motorists such as Philando Castile in 2016 and Sandra Bland in 2015 died as a result of encounters with police at traffic stops. More recently, police officers such as Washington state officer Jonathan Shoop and Tulsa Sgt. Craig Johnson have been killed during routine traffic stops.
In a joint statement, the police unions for Los Angeles, San Jose and San Francisco said that reckless driving, speeding and driving while under the influence are all dangerous “traffic” enforcement violations.
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“We do not believe that the public wants lax enforcement of those incidents by non-sworn individuals,” the unions said. “Traffic stops are some of the most dangerous actions police officers take. What happens when the felon with an illegal gun gets pulled over by the parking police? Nothing good, we’re sure of that.”
