This woman has developed a 'Not Reaching' pouch in order to save black lives during traffic stops

A woman has developed a new invention that's designed to stop wrongful shootings as a result of racial profiling during traffic stops.

Jackie Carter, a former Coastville, Pennsylvania, resident who now lives in DC, has created a special plastic magnetic pouch that she's dubbed the 'Not Reaching' pouch, which holds your driver's license and other documents in sight, and retails for $9.99.

Speaking to NBC News, she described how she came up with the idea in 2016 when she was at home in Pennsylvania celebrating her son's 30th birthday, and she heard the news that Philando Castile, a 32-year-old man, had been shot and killed by a police officer.

Castile had been driving with his girlfriend and her child when he was pulled over by officer Jeronimo Yanez, and when he reached down for his license, the officer mistook his action as reaching for his gun and shot and killed him.

Carter, who didn't know Castile, said that at that time she remembered thinking to herself:

Someone has got to come up with a solution.

That's when she came up with the idea for the pouch. She learned that when drivers have both hands on the steering wheel, police officers feel more comfortable as a result.

The 'Not Reaching' pouch provides an answer to this problem, she says, because it defuses the potentially charged situation that sees the motorist reach down for their documentation.

Speaking to NBC BLK, she said:

I'm more fearful [for my son] in a car here than [when he's serving] in Afghanistan.

Amy Shoemaker, a data scientist with the Stanford Open Policing Project in California, explained that there's no doubt that African American drivers get pulled over more frequently.

According to a study, African American drivers are five percent less likely to be pulled over during the night, however during the day, they're more likely than any other race to be pulled over, reports NBC News.

Valerie Castile, Philando's mother, says she supports the creation of the product, however, says that it's upsetting that it's had to come to this.

Carter agrees. Speaking to CNN, she said:

We shouldn't have to this.

But if there is something we can do to take this off the table, if this makes the interaction [between drivers and officers] more favourable, then let's just do it.

Since its launch three years ago, the pouch has sold over 1,000 units, and she says she's given the pouch away to just as many drivers in the community, reports NBC News.

HT VT

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