POCONO MANOR, Pa. — The Philadelphia Police Department will retain its statewide accreditation after a panel ruled Tuesday that a new city law barring officers from stopping motorists for minor violations does not prevent the department from enforcing state law, a key requirement of accreditation.
The professional stamp of approval had been in jeopardy since the spring, when officials with the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission (PLEAC) said they believed the new measure, known as the Driving Equality law, could have prevented the Police Department and its 6,000 officers from enforcing aspects of the state’s vehicle code.
But city officials said they disagreed with that interpretation, insisting that the law modified, but did not ban, enforcement for violations like broken taillights. The measure, known as the Driving Equality act, reclassified eight minor driving infractions as “secondary violations,” which cannot be the sole reason an officer stops a car (officers can still pull drivers over for more serious offenses).
