Starting January 1st, 2024, per Assembly Bill 2773, police officers can no longer pull over drivers and initiate any interaction with the motorist without first articulating a reasonable suspicion for the stop – and they must do that before asking any other question.

Authored by California assembly member Chris Holden and signed by Governor Gavin Newson in September of 2022, the new law was created to reduce “pretextual stops", a common practice in which police stop drivers (or cyclists, pedestrians) for minor infractions with the intention of escalating such stop in order to search for evidence of other major violations, such as possession of drugs, firearms, etc.

During the floor hearing phase, A.B. 2773 faced strong pushback from the California State Sheriff’s Association, arguing that "Traffic stops can be among the most dangerous types of interactions [...] and peace officers are trained that determining risk surrounding a traffic stop is a key consideration."

In defense of the bill, the California Public Defenders Association stated, “Unfortunately, some officers launch into a series of questions that may have no apparent relationship to any basis for the stop. The longer the questioning goes on, the more apprehensive the individual becomes of the officer's true motives and, when confronted, they may feel compelled to answer the questions when, in fact, they are not required to do so."

The new bill states that officers must state the reason for the stop "unless the officer reasonably believes that withholding the reason for the stop is necessary to protect life or property from imminent threat."

Happy New Year!

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