Texas Students Learn To Handle Traffic Stops

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This actually might be a good idea. “Texas schools added something new to their curriculums this year: a course on how to go through a police stop,” Zuri Davis reports in Reason magazine. “In 2017, state lawmakers passed the Community Safety Education Act, which requires all high schools to teach a course on police interactions at least once before each student graduates. Schools were provided with a 16-minute video and related course work.”

Such etiquette tips might serve the rest of us well too. “The related course work instructs students to follow various procedures, such as keeping both hands visible and on the steering wheel, and notifying the officer of their intention to reach for a license or insurance documents,” Davis relates. “The packet also informs students of expected officer conduct.”

“For example, students will be taught that officers should obtain clear consent for a search. Should something go poorly during the stop, or even exceptionally well, students will learn how to file a complaint and leave a compliment.”