Why Do So Many Traffic Stops Go Wrong?

<p><i>This episode contains strong language and scenes of violence. </i></p><p>Over the past five years, police officers in the United States have killed more than 400 unarmed drivers or passengers — a rate of more than one a week, a Times investigation has found.</p><p>Why are such cases so common, and why is the problem so hard to fix?</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-d-kirkpatrick?smid=pc-thedaily">David D. Kirkpatrick</a>, a national correspondent for The New York Times. </p><p><i>Love listening to New York Times podcasts? Help us test a new audio product in beta and give us your thoughts to shape what it becomes. Visit </i><a href="http://nytimes.com/audio"><i>nytimes.com/audio</i></a><i> to join the beta.</i></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/signup/NTTD?smid=pc-thedaily">Sign up here</a> to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. </p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>Officers, trained to presume danger, can<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/us/police-traffic-stops-killings.html"> react with outsize aggression</a> during traffic stops — sometimes with fatal consequences.</li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p>