Putting an End to Police Pretext Stops in Vista and San Diego

Last Updated on April 4, 2025

Police can stop motorists for many reasons, including minor issues such as not using a turn signal, having a broken tail light, having window tinting on your windows, or similar issues. These stops for small infractions are considered “pretextual” stops because police usually use these issues as a pretext to hopefully find evidence of some other crime. While most people take this fact for granted and consider it a slight frustration when it happens to them, many people of color find the simple prospect of getting pulled over to be intimidating —and some even find the idea terrifying.

What is the Problem with Police Making a Pretextual Stop?

The chilling video of George Floyd brought awareness to why police interactions are often so fear-inducing for people of color. The video has inspired many police reforms, including efforts to put an end to pretextual stops.

Police pull over an average of 50,000 motorists per day, and research shows that black drivers are stopped 20% more frequently than white drivers for their relative population proportions. Once darkness falls, that number drops dramatically, and black drivers are less likely to be pulled over once they can’t be easily seen from outside the vehicle. Even more bothersome, black drivers are up to 2 times as likely to be searched than white drivers, even though evidence indicates that they are less likely to have drugs, guns, or other illegal materials on them than white drivers.

Pretext Stops Are a Problem in San Diego

While it can be easy to assume this issue only occurs in other parts of the country, pretext stops are still a concern in San Diego County. While blacks make up only around 6% of the population, they are still involved in 18% of all traffic stops. The SDPD and San Diego Sheriff’s Department often use pretextual stops. Research shows that only 1.3% of all traffic stops by police result in arrests —note that this number does not include statistics from the Highway Patrol, which is actually responsible for enforcing traffic crimes.

The problem for black residents of San Diego isn’t just a matter of being inconvenienced by a traffic stop more frequently. They are also more than 6 times as likely to be charged with a minor drug offense in San Diego than whites though usage rates between the groups are roughly equal. More disturbingly, SDPD officers are more than 8 times as likely to use force against black people.

In one shocking example, a black man had his window broken out when he refused to get out of the vehicle for a search after he was stopped for allegedly rolling through a stop sign. While he repeatedly asked the officers the reason for the stop, they refused to answer and instead ended up arresting him for resisting arrest.

As Farhang Heydari, executive director of the Policing Project at the New York University School of Law, points out, “Police have enormous discretion in making traffic stops. If you’re driving, it’s impossible not to break a traffic law — there are so many of them. Police are always going to have a reason to pull you over.” And outlawing pretext stops for minor traffic infractions, particularly those that only result in fix-it tickets, is a great way to put an end to this practice.

Putting an End to Pretextual Stops

While police need to be able to pull over drivers suspected of crimes, the public has become increasingly wary of allowing them to stop people for minor infractions. More and more states and cities are increasing the thresholds for officers to stop vehicles, making these pretext stops for minor infractions against the law.

Virginia now prohibits police from stopping residents for driving with a broken license plate light, objects dangling from a rearview mirror, tinted windows, loud exhaust pipes, or for having the odor of marijuana around their vehicle —unless the officer had another valid reason to stop or arrest the driver. Officers are also unable to perform searches or seizures based only on the scent of marijuana.

The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that officers cannot pull someone over for a minor crime, such as a broken tail light, and then ask the driver unrelated questions or ask for consent to search the vehicle.

Are Pretext Stops Legal in California?

In California, the Highway Patrol has been prohibited from using minor traffic violations as a pretext to search vehicles since 2003 —and that includes asking drivers for permission to search their vehicle without the probable cause they need to search the car without consent.

Until 2024, that law didn’t apply to local police agencies. However, since the passage of AB 2773, officers must tell someone the reason for a traffic stop before they ask any questions. They are only permitted to withhold the reason in dangerous situations. Officers also cannot ask someone they have stopped about their race, ethnicity, or gender. While pretextual stops are still technically legal in California, the bill at least requires police to be able to present a valid reason as soon as they pull someone over.

Some changes are happening on a smaller level. Oakland has stopped police from pulling over low-level offenders. In Berkeley, the city council passed a measure to transfer traffic stops from the police to an unarmed civilian group employed by the yet-to-be-established BerkDOT transportation department.

Can Police Make Pretext Stops in Vista or the Rest of San Diego County?

The SDPD can still make pretext stops people for minor infractions. However, the cities of San Diego, National City, and Chula Vista are experimenting with a “Lights On Program” to make fix-it tickets less burdensome for low-income residents. Under this program, officers provide drivers with a voucher for a repair up to $250 rather than a fix-it ticket. While the program will not help prevent pretext stops, it may help build a positive relationship between overpoliced communities and the police, making traffic stops less confrontational and, thus, safer for both groups. The program was implemented in 2023 and is estimated to have enough funds to continue for four years.

The Arguments for Pretext Traffic Stops

Of course, few issues like this are one-sided matters. Police groups oppose these decisions, as well as the notion that they are racially profiling drivers. They often point to cases where a dangerous criminal was stopped due to a traffic stop related to a minor offense. One of the most famous examples of the effectiveness of pretext stops was when the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was stopped and caught after he was pulled over for not having a license plate.

However, the frequency at which dangerous criminals are removed from the streets due to pretext-driven traffic stops is infinitesimal compared to how often ordinary people have their vehicles pulled over for minor infractions.

While public safety groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving don’t have a problem with some proposals (like those targeting drivers with broken tail or license plate lights), they are against those that make it more difficult for police to stop and arrest possible drunk drivers.

Fight for Your Rights

While no laws have been passed in California to stop these pretextual traffic stops completely, remember that police still must meet some minimum standards to stop, search, and arrest a suspect. When you have been charged with a crime after being pulled over by the police, give your lawyer all the details of your encounter so he can evaluate the situation to determine if your rights may have been violated. For example, if the officer did not have a valid reason to stop you, the evidence against you may be challenged, and you may even be able to have the charges dropped altogether.

If you have been arrested for any crime, please call (760) 643-4050 or (858) 486-3024 to schedule a free initial consultation where you can discuss your case with criminal attorney Peter M. Liss.