The Minnesota Department of Public Safety is getting mocked for a new method it claims may reduce the number of people shot by police during traffic encounters: pouches.
Yes, pouches.
But these aren’t just any pouches. They are “not-reaching pouches,” and they are designed to be used by drivers, not police officers.
According to a press release, motorists are supposed to place their driver’s license, insurance card and registration in a pouch that is kept in plain sight in the vehicle.
The idea is that keeping everything in the pouch will make it easier for the stopped motorist to give their information to the traffic officer without having to reach into a glove box or other place.
The pouches were created by Valerie Castile, whose son Philando Castile, the release notes, was fatally shot by a Minnesota police officer during a traffic stop in July 2016.
Castile had been reaching for his wallet as requested when the police officer shot him.
Since then, Minnesota officers have shot others during traffic stops including Daunte Wright, an unarmed man killed in April by officer Kim Potter.
DPS Assistant Commissioner Booker Hodges said the department is “hoping these pouches help in some way reduce these instances, even if it’s just one.”
The department did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
However, many Twitter users suggested that the onus on reducing police shootings should be on the actual officers and not on motorists.
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