This story has been updated.
Last year, the San Antonio Police Department issued 234 citations for defective vehicle lights. Starting Monday, San Antonio motorists pulled over for broken vehicle lights will instead get a voucher to pay for up to $250 in repairs.
The change comes courtesy of a new program adopted by SAPD intended to help build trust in the community through positive interactions with police. Lights On! started in Minneapolis in 2018, and the program has expanded to 20 states, has more than 160 law enforcement partnerships, and works with 380 auto shop partners.
The program is simple, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said: If an officer stops anyone who has a headlight, tail light, brake light or turn signal light out, they issue the person a voucher.
San Antonio is the program’s first partnership in Texas, Lights On! Vice President Sherman Patterson said, and was chosen because he and McManus worked together when McManus was with the Minneapolis Police Department.
To fund the program in San Antonio, H-E-B donated $10,000, and Lights On! matches the contribution. Other cities wanting to participate in the program first need a donor to fund the effort.
“It is intended to improve community relations, to not fear the police and help someone out financially when they’ve got to spend a little bit of money to get their car repaired,” McManus said.
Lights On! got its start following the 2016 shooting death of Philando Castile, a 32-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by a police officer in the St. Paul-Minneapolis metropolitan area during a traffic stop for a broken tail light.
The organization sought to “repair and restore that relationship between law enforcement and community,” Patterson said.
Having some traffic stops result in a motorist getting a voucher instead of a citation, especially for lower-income drivers who can’t afford either repairs or a ticket, is a step toward smoothing interactions between the police and community members.
“There are customers sometimes choosing between fixing a headlight and buying their groceries,” said Julie Bedingfield, public affairs manager for H-E-B. “If we can help improve our customers’ lives and strengthen those ties within the community … all around it just made sense for us.”
H-E-B is a financial supporter of the San Antonio Report. For a full list of business members, click here.
