An LA City Hall plot to strip cops of powers to detain drivers for traffic violations and let civilians do it is “extremely dangerous,” top officers have warned.
Council bosses on Wednesday threw weight behind watered-down plans to crack down on pre-textual traffic stops in a unanimous 14-0 ruling.
The move as it stands tightens restrictions on what police can do when pulling someone over, but threatens to pave the way for radical ambitions to shift the control to non-sworn officers.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League told The Post on Thursday the idea could be “deadly” and would turn the streets into a “demolition derby.”
A spokesman said: “Apparently, many ill-informed anti-police advocates believe it is lawful for non-sworn peace officers to detain drivers for traffic violations.
“That is against state law and extremely dangerous. Abandoning enforcement of our traffic laws will result in more vehicle and pedestrian deaths and injuries, making Los Angeles streets resemble a demolition derby.”
The vote on Wednesday was a watered-down version of what far-left City Hall leaders have called for since the anti-cop movement exploded in 2020.
Council president Marqueece Harris-Dawson spearheaded the original motion that sought to tear up who handles traffic enforcement in LA.
His proposal wanted to strip the LAPD from handling minor offenses such as routine stops for broken taillights and expired registrations but also more serious ones like crash response and DUIs.
Instead they wanted to mull handing the powers to unarmed civilian traffic officers by expanding the Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s role and bringing in automated enforcement technology.
Harris-Dawson framed it as a moral shift, condemning armed responses to minor violations as “barbaric” and “wholly uncivilized.”
But LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell has consistently defended police traffic stops as critical in recovering illegal guns, disrupting gang activity and busting drug dealers.
The original idea quickly ran into a brick wall, with leaders struggling to answer basic questions such as what would civilian officers be able to do if a suspect resisted.
By the time the vote was held on Wednesday much of the proposal had been diluted and the long held ambition to move to a non-cop army of traffic officers was removed for now.
The plan that was passed instead limits police to only pull drivers over if their equipment violation is a clear public safety threat, as well as making them state clearly on body cameras why it was needed.
Yet fears it could be expanded were escalated when Harris-Dawson this week called the new laws a “down payment.”
The motion now heads to the Police Commission.
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