The City of Fayetteville voted Monday night to temporarily bar police officers from consent searches.
The moratorium -- which will be in place for 120 days beginning Feb. 1 -- passed with two dissenting votes. It will allow officials to perform an independent review into the police department’s practices after accusations of racial profiling surfaced.
In a consent search, police can ask drivers for permission to search a vehicle based on nothing more than a hunch. But drivers say they did not know they have the right to refuse a search unless they are placed under arrest.
Fayetteville Police Chief Tom Bergamine said he felt that officers were being asked to go against using a tool made available to them by state law.
The City attorney, however, said consent searches are “permissible, not required” by state law.
The City is looking into a plan that would require officers to get written permission to search a person’s car.
"The Supreme Court and the state law say we do not have to get written consent," said Lt. Chris Davis with Fayetteville Police. "We're of belief, if it's good enough for the Supreme Court, it's good enough for the Fayetteville Police Department."
The Fayetteville Police Department admits it pulls over black drivers three times more than white drivers, but they say it's not because of race but because they are seen making more traffic violations.
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