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Home My WebLink About2016 07-20 46 Stops: On 'The Driving Life And Death Of Philando Castile' NPR7/21/2016 46 Stops: A Code Switch Podcast On 'The Driving Life And Death Of Phi landoCastile' :Code Switch: NPR switchcode THE CODE SWITCH PODCAST J• Stops: On 'The D Death Of Philando , � 29*1 Queue July 20, 20163:34 PM ET 12 LEAH DONNELLA ng ife And He A car with "#Justice4Philando" written on it is parked outside the funeral of Philando Castile at the Cathedral of St. Paul. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images http://www. npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/07/20/486512846/46-stops-orrthe-driving-I ife-and-death-of-phi Iando-castiI e 1/7 7/21/2016 46 Stops: A Code Switch Podcast On 'The Driving Life And Death Of Phi landoCastile' :Code Switch: NPR taillight,pulled over for a broken for Castile, . # . traffic stops were , more routine than any people might imagine. I iii li G„,,, n The Driving Life And Death Of Philando Castile reportersFor our latest podcast episode, which you can hear above, Code Switch's Gene Demby spoke to NPR • and Eyder Peralta, who took closer# •k at the circumstances surrounding Castile's noticedeath. They found that in his 14 years of driving, Castile was pulled over at least 46 times by police. "Basically, Philando Castile was stopped from the very moment he got his license, through the moment of his death. That was his last stop,” says Peralta. "He just seems to go through these cycles where there's just fine after fine after fine, stop after stop after stop ... And only six of them are from something you would actually # something outside http://www. npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/07/20/486512846/46-stops-orrthe-driving-I ife-and-death-of-phi lando-castil e 2/7 7/21/2016 46 Stops: A Code Switch Podcast On 'The Driving Life And Death Of Phi landoCastile' :Code Switch: NPR Experts told us that many black men in Minnesota • s.. caught pattern of repeated. and license suspensionsleads to more stops, fines, suspensions and sometimes arrest.!' lta says that even in a two-year period when Castile wasn't getting pulled over, he was paying outstanding traffic fines, which sometimes added up to $5oo a month. Listen to this episode — and subscribe! —here. And share your comments with us on Twitter at @NPRCodeSwitch or via email at codeswitch@npr.org Corley went o Minnesota to try to better understand landscapethe in which this all was happening. "Yo have St. Paul, the city proper, Minneapolis, and then you have. ring of suburbs Avenuearound it," she says. She explained that Larpenteur is the dividing line between St. Paul and many surroundingof its suburbs. Castile. • on Larpenteur and Fry, in the suburb of Falcon Heights, http://www. npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/07/20/486512846/46-stops-orrthe-driving-I ife-and-death-of-phi lando-castil e 3/7 7/21/2016 46 Stops: A Code Switch Podcast On 'The Driving Life And Death Of Phi landoCastile' :Code Switch: NPR when he was pulled over ! the last time. That geography is im1'! because,! # .' to Myron Orfield, a professor of ! civil liberties law at the University of # . policing in the suburbs looks very different from policing in the cities. Orfield has been studying bias in policing since2003. He talked to Peralta about his findings. "In the inner cities, say in St. Paul, black and brown people are n# more likely to be stopped by police. They're• #re likely. But as soon as youcross [Larpenteurinto the suburbs, into the mostlysuburbs,they'resometimes1 to seven times more likely to be stopped," Peralta says. Rj 1 Corley!# to an attorney '. ## who often works with people fighting traffic violations. That lawyer ! his colleagues! ! . 1 of clients a year, but even he was surprised at the http://www. npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/07/20/486512846/46-stops-orrthe-driving-I ife-and-death-of-phi lando-castil e 4/7 7/21/2016 46 Stops: A Code Switch Podcast On 'The Driving Life And Death Of Phi landoCastile' :Code Switch: NPR number■ pulled over. spokesays, other folks she 'Drivingthat being pulled over regularly as a black man is just a fact of life. "The phrase that many people use is while black,"' Corley says. They also talked to Eric Sandvick, a public defender o actually represented Castile for one of histraffic stops. Sandvicksays that what Castile went through was part of a larger system. "I don'tremember enoughout him specifically to speak of his character or anything like. But I thinkr. Castile symbolizes for a lot of us workingin public defense is that drivingoffenses are typically just crimes of poverty. And Mr. sile's story is one that repeats itself countless times tro out the court system," said 'c . CODE SWI ,,,II,,,,, Ilh III http://www. npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/07/20/486512846/46-stops-orrthe-driving-I ife-and-death-of-phi lando-castil e 5/7 7/21/2016 46 Stops: A Code Switch Podcast On 'The Driving Life And Death Of Phi landoCastile' :Code Switch: NPR level misdemeanor offenses, and those charges can come with suspension of one's river's license. For poor people, getting that license back can mean spending i e and money theydon'tave. Int e meantime, ey still have to go to work, pick up kids, get the groceries. So, Sandvick says, they often just keep driving. Then, if they get pulled over again, they might facing a muchore serious offense, in possiblejail time. girlfriend,Diamond was driving home from the grocery store with her and her 4 -year-old daughter when they got stopped. Not long after, Castile was dead. Some police officers in Minnesota have concerns about e way the system works. police chief in Maplewood, a neighboring Minnesota suburb, http://www. npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/07/20/486512846/46-stops-orrthe-driving-I ife-and-death-of-phi lando-castil e 6/7 7/21/2016 46 Stops: A Code Switch Podcast On 'The Driving Life And Death Of Phi landoCastile' :Code Switch: NPR spoke o Corley about the"brutal cycle" he says many motorists go through. He didn't o exactly what changes should be made, but toldCorley that it was time fort e legal establishment to recognize that there's problem with er number of stops are happening. "[The St. Anthony Police]• •.d that these numbers look bad. And what they're talking about is that half of the people that their department arrests are black, but blacks only • percentof the patrol area. They ackno'• •• that this is.' problem, but it's complex, and they don't quite get into how' to Peralta You can check Out this episode Over at ' ®directory, andon iTunes and other places podcasts are found. I1,,)hl!1Iando casfi1le code sWtcti podcast Il 111 li 6hn rT- li in r --i (- t http://www. npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/07/20/486512846/46-stops-orrthe-driving-I ife-and-death-of-phi lando-castil e 7/7