Jersey cops were told too many black people were being pulled over, now there is a bigger problem

Thanks to allegations of racial profiling, the New Jersey State Police backed off, leading to an increase in fatal crashes, surprise, surprise.

It started in July of 2023 after the state’s left-wing attorney general published a dubious report claiming that too many black people were being pulled over. After the report dropped, police union president Wayne D. Blanchard issued an internal memo warning officers of the risks of stopping drivers.

“All members are reminded of the dangers of conducting motor vehicle stops,” he wrote, according to The New York Times. “Unfortunately, we must also contend with internal and external entities who seemingly wish to see us fail. Whatever their motivation, one thing is certain: Every stop and enforcement action you take will be highly scrutinized.”

In response, the police stopped pulling over as many drivers, and surprise, surprise, this led to a rise in crashes.

“If you enforce traffic laws, crashes go down,” National Police Association spokesperson Betsy Brantner Smith told Fox News in a statement. “If you do not enforce them, crashes go up. Accidents are largely created by a disparity in speed, and unless we want to admit that, then we’re going to fix it.”

“The American public is going to have to decide, what do you want? Do you want cops to enforce the law, or do you want somebody here to adhere to some sort of manufactured or false or politically correct policy when it comes to enforcing the law? It is a very untenable situation for the troopers, and frankly, it’s an untenable situation for the citizens,” she added.

It doesn’t help that NJ Attorney General Matthew Platkin, a Democrat, has now announced a criminal investigation into the police.

“I am deeply disappointed that this well-deserved reputation for serving the public good has been tainted by the alleged and unprecedented slowdown in State Police traffic enforcement from approximately July 2023 to March 2024,” he said in a statement.

“I am particularly concerned that this slowdown may have coincided with increased crashes and fatalities on our roadways,” he added.

And whose fault is that?

Making matters worse, he appointed far-leftist Preet Bharara of the Obama administration to oversee the criminal probe.

Interestingly, even The New York Times’ notoriously left-wing readers see the writing on the wall.

“Red light cameras and speed limit cameras don’t care about your race,” the top-voted user comment reads. “We need more cameras on roads and highways, and repeat offenders need to receive serious fines and/or license and vehicle confiscations.”

“These pullbacks by the police have been nationwide and are completely understandable,” another top-voted comment reads. “When the far left decided to criminalize policing, it’s completely understandable that police are not going to put themselves in a position to have their lives ruined by a mob of unthinking social justice warriors.”

Ouch.

(Source: The New York Times)

Brantner Smith for her part downplayed the idea that black motorists are being unfairly targeted.

“Even during the day, when you’re sitting in traffic or you’re driving down the freeway, can you see the race of the person in front of you unless you pull up beside them?” she asked. “And radar, when we’re talking about primarily speeding violations, radar doesn’t have a race setting.”

She went on to slam the report and subsequent investigation as a witch hunt against the police.

“The public knows this, undoubtedly, that the police have been cut off at the knees,” she said. “This is just a very soft way to be anti-police. It’s almost a way to defund the police without defunding, without talking about defunding them, without making anti-police statements publicly.”

“The most ridiculous part of this is the criminal investigation. The most horrific part of it are these additional accidents,” she added.

Vivek Saxena

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