Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
The Erie Bureau of Police have put out a brochure written by the U.S. Department of Justice that explains the process of a traffic stop (here).
“In a lot of cases, the first and only contact citizens have with the police department is a traffic stop,” Erie Bureau of Police Chief Steve Franklin said. “And in some ways, that makes it dangerous. Anything can happen.”
To reduce the risk, the bureau has printed 1,000 copies of a new how-to: a brochure that explains the process of a traffic stop.
Much of it is obvious:
- If stopped by an officer, do not try to exit your vehicle.
- Keep your hands in plain view.
- Turn on your hazards and interior lights.
- Do not be surprised if a second patrol car arrives. That’s often a matter of routine.
…[Franklin] also plans to meet with the agencies that guide Erie’s refugee populations. Those groups often have much different expectations of police, said Joe Haas, the executive director of Catholic Charities Counseling and Adoption Services.
“Some of them come from countries where law enforcement was a source of brutality,” Haas said. “They don’t always understand that the police are a source of good in the United States.”
A U.S. Dept. of Justice mediator suggested the brochure after being called in to mediate the outcry from the community when the community caught Erie police laughing about the murder of a local resident.
The content may be straightforward, but the development of the brochure was anything but: It started, indirectly, with the 2009 death of Rondale Jennings Sr.
Jennings, 31, was shot during an argument outside a bar. A few weeks later, one of the police officers who responded to that 911 call was in another bar, joking about Jennings’ death throes.
The officer — James Cousins II — was suspended after his comments were posted online, in a video on YouTube.
