St. Paul police restrict routine stops to marked squads

St. Paul police have temporarily ordered that routine traffic stops be conducted only by clearly marked squad cars, pausing the use of unmarked vehicles for ordinary enforcement while the department reviews its tactics. The change applies citywide and is framed as a trust‑ and safety‑focused move at a time when public scrutiny of stops is intense, particularly for immigrant and minority communities already on edge from federal ICE activity across the metro. Unmarked cars can still be used for investigations and specialized operations, but rank‑and‑file officers are being told to leave day‑to‑day traffic enforcement to standard black‑and‑white squads with lights and markings. The department has not set a firm end date, suggesting the policy could become permanent depending on what a broader review finds about crash data, stop patterns, and resident concerns. For drivers in St. Paul, it means routine stops should now come from vehicles they can easily recognize as police, which could reduce confusion and lower-risk interactions at the curb.