On January 1, 2024, Governor Pritzker signed Bill HB2389 with support from the Illinois General Assembly, an amendment that prevents law enforcement from pulling vehicles over because of objects hanging in view of the driver.
The original Illinois Vehicle Code in section 625 ILCS 5/12-503, made objects such as air fresheners, iconic props like fuzzy dice, and stickers on windows completely illegal and grounds for a traffic stop.
In a press release on the Illinois.gov website, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias and Representative La Shawn Ford, writers and proponents of the bill, defend their opinion by calling the original law “archaic” and “ridiculous.”
In the same official statement from Illinois Legislation, they acknowledge the history of law enforcement using pretextual traffic to discriminate against minorities.
According to a 2023 report from Impact for Equality, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago, the number of pretextual traffic stops have increased and were disproportionately done in minority communities.
“Black drivers comprised 51.2% of people pulled over despite Black people making up less than 30% of the city’s residents”
In an interview with Josh Palad, an ECC student, when asked about his opinion on restricting police power, such as with Bill HB2389, he stated “police pull you over for no reason other than suspicion, and taking that away would be good in general.”
The sentiment of restricting police power is an increasingly common mindset among the population of the United States. According to the Pew Research Center, public perception of police has decreased recently due to high-profile cases of police violence, and calls to restrict police departments have grown drastically across the country.
Bill HB2389 was written in the wake of the murder of Daunte Wright, a Chicago born man who would be pulled over in Minnesota, reportedly for having an air freshener in his vehicle. The stop would escalate with the officer confusing their taser and firearm, resulting in his death.
The death of Daunte Wright would spark outrage across the country and would further harm public perception of law enforcement. The protests that followed the accidental death would call for police officers to be held responsible across the country and for lawmakers to protect citizens rights.
Under Section 110 ILCS 1020/0.01 of the Illinois General Assembly, the Elgin Community College police department is fully authorized to conduct traffic stops and is currently affected by Bill HB2389
Despite a request for an interview, ECC’s police department declined to comment on the proposed law and its impact on their operations.
Now that Bill HB2389 has been fully implemented to Illinois Law, drivers in Illinois are completely protected from traffic stops due to hanging objects in their vehicles and are free to express themselves without worrying about being pulled over.
