A federal judge effectively struck down a routine traffic stop practice performed by Kansas Highway Patrol that allowed state troopers to detain motorists without cause or reasonable suspicion.
The judge’s order came down on July 21 in the cases Shaw vs. Jones and Erich v. Jones, which were filed in court in 2020 against now-former Kansas Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Herman Jones over his department’s “Kansas Two-Step” traffic stop practice.
The “two-step” maneuver is the trooper concluding the traffic stop and turning to walk back to his patrol vehicle, only to turn around and re-engage the driver in a “consensual” conversation until a K-9 unit arrives to sniff the driver’s vehicle for drugs.
Joshua Bosire is one of the five plaintiffs who were suing KHP over the troopers’ unconstitutional practices of profiling drivers in cars with out-of-state license plates. His involvement stems from a 2019 traffic stop where he was pulled over driving a rental car with Missouri plates by Trooper Brandon McMillan for driving 7 mph over the speed limit on I-70 in Kansas.
McMillan didn’t cite Bosire for speeding, but before the stop, he had observed Bosire, a Black man, at a gas station at the same time another with out-of-state plates was at the station, and he testified that made him form the suspicion the two were part of a caravan trafficking drugs from Colorado to Kansas. Bosire just happened to be returning to the state from Denver after celebrating his daughter’s birthday.
McMillan began the stop by questioning Bosire about his destination and where he was traveling from. Bosire, who had cameras mounted front and back in the car, replied only that he was traveling east from west and refused to answer any more questions.
The trooper returned to his car and called for backup, then returned to Bosire’s car after several minutes and asked to search the vehicle. Bosire refused McMillan’s request to search his car,…
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