Minnesota now bars police from asking standard question during traffic stops

Minneapolis, MN— It's a common question asked by law enforcement officers across the nation as the opening move in many given traffic stops to the extent that it has become a cliche: “Do you know why I pulled you over?”

But the state of Minnesota has closed out its legislative session with a massive judiciary and public safety supplemental budget bill, which was signed into law by Governor Tim Walz, making asking this question illegal. 

Friday's reporting from MinnPost indicated that among other reforms to traffic stop procedure and police training the measure HF1832 forbids the question and requires officers instead to proactively inform drivers as to why they've been pulled over.

This new procedure must be followed "unless it would be unreasonable to do so under the totality of the circumstances." However, unlike a failure to Mirandize a subject under arrest, an officer's failure to do so would not allow for the dismissal of charges, and citations or the invalidation of evidence collected as 'fruit of the poisoned tree.'

State Rep. Cedrick Frazier (DFL-New Hope) stated in a comment for the Minnesota legislative bulletin, "What we are trying to do is decrease interactions that may be heightened or increased that may lead to further interactions that from what we have seen in our state in recent years could lead to very volatile and violent interactions which could lead to further distrust among law enforcement and communities."

Frazier claimed that a determining fact in a traffic stop turning deadly is the race of the driver. He added, “Officers can enhance their effectiveness and improve overall safety on our roads by directing their attention to violations directly linked to road safety such as speeding and driving under the influence.”

Executive Director Jeff Potts of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association told MinnPost that officers have frequently opened traffic stops with the question as a way to start the conversation with drivers. However, he added in recent years several departments have pivoted away from asking the question and instead told the driver why they were stopped directly. 

Potts, a former chief of the Bloomington Police Department with 30 years on the force explained, "There were some organizations that thought it put the driver in a position of self-incrimination, that they’d be admitting to something, and in an arrest situation, of course, that’s not okay unless they’ve been read their rights. You don’t want to start the conversation in a position where the violator has to make an admission of guilt or something like that, so it’s just a more positive way to have the interaction with the driver of the vehicle."