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®CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK
<br /> Committeemember Regina Williams-Preston continued,And so just quickly,two(2)things I think
<br /> to think about as we're having these conversations and I'm not sure which meeting it might fall
<br /> under,but around the equity piece. I know I have a really old car, I don't have Bluetooth. So,people
<br /> who maybe don't have those updated versions, how can we do that? I was talking to my husband
<br /> about it and he was like, Oh,people get aftermarket stuff all the time. I'm like, okay, whatever. So
<br /> maybe ear buds or whatever those things are,but those are conversations to be had. And then also,
<br /> I had a question about other consequences after a stop. Clarifying when we're having that
<br /> discussion about, once someone is stopped, then does it go to a car search? You know what I'm
<br /> saying? I don't know, what are the rules and regulations around that, so we can be really clear.
<br /> Because it might start as a, Oh I saw you on your phone,but the fall out behind that. What is that?
<br /> Mr. Ruszkowski replied, Well I can help you out there. So reasonable suspicion is what is needed,
<br /> for a stop. So, I believe that somebody had a cell phone(this is hypothetical), I believed somebody
<br /> had a cell phone in their hand and I made that stop. Driving is a privilege. It is not a right. So
<br /> therefore, anything obtained at that traffic stop, where maybe somebody is not licensed, we run
<br /> information through the computer so somebody could have a warrant. Everything is based off of
<br /> that initial stop. So, it's fruit of the poison tree in prosecutors' terms. And what is legal and what
<br /> is not legal from that point on,but anybody that gets stopped driving a vehicle for whatever reason
<br /> is subject to a licensed check and a warrants check, at the bare minimum because driving is a
<br /> privilege and not a right.
<br /> Councilmember Jake Teshka stated, I just wanted to comment. I think one of my early concerns
<br /> on this was enforceability as well. And then I started to think about if we took that mindset towards
<br /> everything we do. Should we let enforceability stop us from doing the right thing? And the second
<br /> (2°d) is just a personal anecdote, and I debated for weeks whether or not to talk about this, but I
<br /> was recently in an accident. I was at fault. And I can't one hundred percent (100%) say that my
<br /> phone wasn't a factor. And so, I'm driving around in a rental now, and for the last three (3) or four
<br /> (4) weeks, my phone has been in the backseat and I need to make a call, I touch the blue tooth
<br /> button. And I can't imagine if my children were in the car or somebody else's children were in the
<br /> car that was also involved in the accident. And so, I think it's a good thing for us to do this, even
<br /> if we're not going to be writing tickets left and right,just to raise the awareness. Again, folks hear
<br /> it all the time, but until something happens, and look, we're all busy. Gavin said, we make phone
<br /> calls. There's a lot of us that have, most of us on the Council are working a day job plus this
<br /> commitment and Lord knows what other boards and those sorts of things. And so, the temptation
<br /> to use that time,that windshield time to make those calls and those sorts of things. It's clearly there,
<br /> And so I'm one hundred percent(100%)in support of this.And when Gavin called me,he probably
<br /> thought I rushed him off the phone, but I said, no, no, no I'm one hundred percent (100%) for it.
<br /> So, thank you for introducing it and I guess that's my two (2) cents.
<br /> Councilmember Sharon McBride stated, I guess my comments would be I appreciate the call. I
<br /> think it's important. At the same time, you know with me, being a director, I just drove from
<br /> Indianapolis home Friday from the DLC and I was on the phone from Indianapolis all the way
<br /> back to South Bend, taking care of business that I was out of the office from. So, there's some
<br /> conflict of, no, I'm not holding the phone in my hand, but my thought did come into mind that I
<br /> would be driving. There is a time I have to pick up the phone to make a call or speak into the
<br /> Bluetooth or things of that nature. So, in my mind, thinking if I got pulled over, one (1), I'm not
<br /> texting, but two (2), is it even legal for me to be on my cell phone? So, I've got a lot of thoughts
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