Vehicle, person stops in Orlando down at least 50% since 2012, police say

ORLANDO, Fla. — Over the past year, law enforcement officers have told Channel 9 that the spotlight on police officers is changing the way they do their jobs.

One of the changes is less proactive policing. On April 15, Orlando police sent out a tweet saying that since April 2012, the number of vehicle stops has gone down 50% and person stops has gone down 65%.

But Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon said he doesn’t know yet if the drop in stops is a good or a bad thing.

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Law enforcement officers have said they are more reactive than proactive, saying the Black Lives Matter movement calling for an end to police violence puts a spotlight on them 24/7.

Some said they are afraid that any minor incident could turn into a major one.

“I think it’s a poor excuse to not be working, in my opinion,” Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon said, adding that if police officers are doing everything by the book, there would be no reason to fear.

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Rolon didn’t give another reason for the statistics. However, he said he put the numbers out there for transparency.

For years, activists have called for an end to over policing, some of which includes proactive stops, saying it unfairly targets minority communities.

Some violent crimes are also up. That means his agency has to see if the two statistics are connected and what, if anything, to do about it.

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