Traffic stops are fucking painfully stupid.

Do they *know why they pulled you over? | Created by Jay W. Austin & DALL•E*

In the U.S., traffic stops are the most frequent interactions that police officers have with the people.

In police training and culture, traffic stops are some of the most dangerous situations an officer will face. Although this study soundly refutes that reality, the perception of danger on behalf of the officer becomes the main escalating factor.

In other words, their perception of danger makes the situation more dangerous for everyone. Kinda in the same way the presence of a gun makes it that much more likely that someone is shot by a gun if shit goes down. And by the way, officers making traffic stops have guns.

Traffic stops for most non-white folks might be annoying, but rarely go beyond that. For others, traffic stops can feel like time behind bars, life, or death.

For 99.9% of drivers, the situation makes them feel powerless.

Powerless because they feel like they don’t have any way to refute the claims of the officer, protect themselves legally and physically, and just feel outmatched.

They’re right.

Just before the footage of Tyre’s death after a traffic stop was released, I wrote a super short piece sharing a line-by-line breakdown of a verse about getting pulled over in Jay-Z’s song 99 Problems by a procedural law professor.

In it, the professor details what Hova got right and wrong in his interaction with the cop during the traffic stop.

The results might surprise you.

You have rights during a stop, but there’s a fine line to walk until the officer perceives your knowledge as probable cause for a search.

And regardless of if you know your rights and know how to toe that line, it might be difficult to execute when you’re under the pressure.

Do I have to answer that question? Can they ask me that question in the first place? Should I let him search my vehicle if I know I’m innocent? Can I record this?

This is where A.I. could come in.

In the same way that OnStar provides emergency communications and vehicle diagnostics, can there be a service that provides emergency constitutional guidance to people who’ve just been pulled over?

Imagine having your personal lawyer on call 24/7. With one voice command, they’re there for you as the blue and red lights flash behind you. They’re telling you what you should and shouldn’t say, what you do and don’t have to answer, and if push comes to “step-out-the-car!!” then the lawyer could (at the least) record and (at most) call the police on the police?

Seems to me that A.I. could handle all these things.

Aye, I’m Jay. You’re on my personal site where I post things I make about interrupting mass incarceration, protecting migration, environmental justice & sustainability, language, communications, storytelling, creativity, and tech.

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