The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) conducts more than 10,000 stops per month and disproportionately targets Black people. After being stopped, Black residents are then six times more likely to be searched in comparison to white residents. The numbers are more disparate for children. Black youths are stopped almost 12 times more frequently than their White peers. The stops do not promote safety or recover enough guns to justify their harm. Of the 81,020 stops made by MPD in 2020, only 782 resulted in the seizure of a gun (less than one percent).
The exclusionary rule stands as one of the only methods of deterring police officers from violating the rights of D.C. residents. The proposed legislation, as recommended by the D.C. Police Reform Commission, would (1) make it unlawful for law enforcement to racially profile individuals, (2) disincentivize profiling by keeping any evidence obtained out of court, and, (3) ultimately, provide residents some protection from unlawful stops and searches.