3 years after Philly limited police stops, research offers glimpse into who’s still getting pulled over

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Three years ago, Philadelphia approved a measure that limits the number of infractions police could use to pull a car over. Now, supporters of the plan say the effort has achieved its goal of reducing the number of Black men pulled over in the city for low-level violations like a broken taillight or an expired registration.

According to numbers compiled by the Defender Association of Philadelphia, there’s been a significant drop in the number of cars pulled over by the Philadelphia Police Department since the law went into effect, although there was a bit of an increase in 2024.

“A lot of Black men that would have been pulled over haven’t been pulled over,” said Councilmember Isaiah Thomas.

The report found that from January 2014 through December 2024, Philadelphia police made nearly 2 million traffic stops in the city, an average of more than 15,000 a month. In 2019, the monthly average was up to nearly 28,000 a month.

During the pandemic lockdowns between April 2020 and March 2021, the monthly average dropped to about 8,000 per month.

In 2022, the new restrictions went into place. Between 2022 and the end of last year, the average monthly stop rate was around 9,100.

In 2024, police made an average of around 10,500 traffic stops per month in Philadelphia, totaling 126,255 traffic stops during that period.

Over the past year, Black drivers accounted for more than 63% of police stops in Philly, while white and Latino drivers made up 17% and 13% of stops, respectively.

The report also found that police came up empty-handed nearly 88% of the time when searching cars and people for contraband.

Chief Public Defender Keisha Hudson said the data proves traffic stops of Black men are down.

“If we are looking at the racial demographics of traffic stops in Philly, we are seeing huge racial disparities,” Hudson said. “We have miles to go, but this is incredible progress.”

State Rep. Andre Carroll spoke about how he recently was stopped by police as he was pulled over while speaking on his phone. He said a patrol car circled the block several times and finally pulled in behind him, and he was questioned by police. He was eventually let go when he identified himself as a state representative.

“One of the things that I recognize is that not everyone has the opportunity to be an elected official. And looking at this data. I think there is some things that we should definitely be proud of,” Carroll said. “There’s a lot of progress that’s been made over the three years. But an experience like that, just three weeks ago, could have went terribly wrong.”

Councilmember Thomas said there is still much more to do, and that part of the next steps will be discussed during upcoming City Council budget negotiations, when the police department will be subject to rigorous scrutiny during testimony.