Top 5 municipalities per county in # of tickets issued
Dutchess County
| Municipality Name | # of tickets given 2016-2019 for V&T 375-380-a |
| Town of Poughkeepsie | 9,037 |
| Town of East Fishkill | 3,917 |
| City of Poughkeepsie | 2,971 |
| City of Beacon | 2,552 |
| Town of Hyde Park | 2,361 |
Orange County
| Municipality Name | # of tickets given 2016-2019 for V&T 375-380-a |
| Town of Wallkill | 7,945 |
| Town of New Windsor | 6,637 |
| Town of Newburgh | 5,692 |
| City of Middletown | 5,281 |
| Town of Woodbury | 4,806 |
Ulster County
| Municipality Name | # of tickets given 2016-2019 for V&T 375-380-a |
| Town of Ulster | 6,525 |
| Town of New Paltz | 3,534 |
| Town of Saugerties | 3,429 |
| Town of Llyod | 3,377 |
| Town of Wawarsing | 2,606 |
Click on the image below to download the Brakelight Trifold.
WHY WE’RE FIXING BRAKE LIGHTS
Getting pulled over for a broken tail light is one of the most common reasons that people are forced to interact with the police. Because of rampant racial profiling, a traffic stop could be a simple annoyance for some, but a potentially life threatening situation for others. Small traffic infractions are often used as pretexts for unwarranted searches; to target individuals with harassment, expensive fines, court appearances, and arrests. An undocumented person could be detained or face deportation. In some cases— as with Philando Castile and Walter Scott— traffic stops for a broken brake light can lead to murder at the hands of the police.
Our brake light clinics help avoid unnecessary interactions with the justice system by checking and repairing bulbs for our neighbors. We hold these clinics at different locations throughout the community, providing a simple fix for what could lead to much bigger problems.
OUR POLICING AND PRISON SYSTEMS ARE DEEPLY UNJUST
1,127 people were killed by police in 2020.1
120 of those people were killed after police stopped them for a traffic violation.
Our country has a militarized police force that incarcerates its citizens for petty offences in order to perpetuate an authoritarian state. In the U.S. there are 2.3 million people behind bars and 4.5 million people on parole or probation.2 Instead of confronting the underlying issues of poverty and racial oppression that lead individuals to be targeted by the justice system, our prison system continues to grow.
As the Democratic Socialists of America, we stand against police violence and mass incarceration. By changing brake lights for free, we aim to take small but significant action to protect one another from state-sanctioned violence at the hands of the police. We want the brake light clinics to start a conversation in our communities about our police and prisons, to get us thinking and organizing together for a democratic, equitable system that respects the freedoms of every individual.