rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/form/i-support-the-freedom-to-leave-act?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-form-area-i-support-the-freedom-to-leave-act' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> YPP https://actionnetwork.org/groups/ypp https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/forms/photos/000/637/363/normal/freedom_to_leave_act_hearing.jpeg Consent Searches & The Freedom to Leave Act: Bill 2-24 Issue Background: Modern police and police departments are responsible for an ever-increasing number of government functions and services that have nothing to do with crime. This trend pushes police and police departments to be generalists because they are responsible for more, often unrelated, government functions, where they do not have expertise. Therefore, traffic encounters are some of the most common ways that police interact with civilians. These stops often escalate into physical, mental, or fiscal harm. The police killings of Tyre Nichols or Philando Castile, two Black men, are just one of many high-profile police killings during traffic enforcement. The Freedom to Leave Act will ban consent searches in Montgomery County. Councilmember Jawando introduced this bill as an evolution of the STEP Act, which would have banned minor traffic stops in Montgomery County. Bill 2-24: Freedom to Leave Act (More detailed talking points here) The Freedom to Leave Act will ban consent searches in Montgomery County. Consent searches are a high-cost, low-reward tool. Consenting is a survival tactic, not a choice, especially for Black drivers. Banning consent searches will remove one of the reasons that officers stop drivers, rebuild community trust with the police, and reduce racial disparities in traffic enforcement. Most consent searches aren’t really consensual because of the unequal nature of a traffic stop. Police have disproportionate power during a traffic stop because they have the power to cause harm to the driver. Black drivers are disproportionately impacted by police traffic stops. One report found that between 2018 to 2022, Black drivers make up 30% of stops and 43% of searches, even though Black people only comprise 18% of the County’s population. Another report found that between 2016-2022, Black drivers accounted for 45% of consent searches but only 17% of the County’s population. Banning consent searches will also allow police more time and resources to pursue more serious crime in more targeted ways. While consent searches are often upheld as an effective way of recovering firearms or other contraband, less than 5% of Montgomery County consent searches actually resulted in a firearm, drugs recovery or other evidence of a crime. https://actionnetwork.org/forms/i-support-the-freedom-to-leave-act