Pull Over Prevention (POP) is an effort to empower motorists – especially people of color and immigrants in our community – to avoid unsafe discriminatory interactions with law enforcement.
Police and immigration officers use minor automotive issues as reasons to stop, search, fine, and deport people. POP volunteers provide repair and advice for these issues, share repair skills, and promote access to local resources. We host Pull Over Prevention Clinics and answer requests for help in Ypsilanti and the surrounding area.
Notice to attendees: Have you tested positive or showed symptoms for the COVID-19 virus after you attended a POP event? Were you exposed to someone with COVID-19 before you attended a POP event?
If you answer yes to any of these questions, please contact us immediately so we can help other attendees protect themselves and their loved ones.
Events
- [Cancelled] Pull Over Prevention Clinic, Ypsilanti: June 2021
Due to weather, we have cancelled this POP Clinic. If you need auto repair help now, please see our “Get help” section.
Debido al mal tiempo, cancelamos este evento. Si necesita ayuda para reparar su coche ahora, póngase en contacto con nosotros.
Saturday June 26 2021
10:00 AM-02:00 PM
Grace Fellowship Church
1301 S Harris Rd, Ypsilanti, MichiganPull Over Prevention will provide free car repair of lights, tires, and fluids to prevent interactions with law enforcement.
Learn more about Pull Over Prevention.
Sábado 26 de junio 2021
10:00 AM-02:00 PM
Grace Fellowship Church
1301 S Harris Rd, Ypsilanti, MichiganPrevención de Detención Policial ofrecerá reparaciones gratuitas de las luces, los neumáticos, y los líquidos de coche para prevenir los encuentros con la policía y la migra.
Puede saber más sobre Prevención de Detención Policial.
Spread the word! Select a graphic to share with your friends and family.
¡Difundir el mensaje! Selecciona una imagen para compartirla con tus amigos y familiares.
- Michigan Liberation Juneteenth Freedom Celebration & Brake Light Clinic
Saturday June 19 2021
11:00 AM-04:00 PM
Belmont Shopping Center
1940 E 8 Mile Rd, Detroit, MichiganThis event is hosted by Michigan Liberation, who asked us to help with planning and promotion. Thanks for reaching out, y’all!
Join us for our Juneteenth 2021 Freedom Celebration as we honor our ancestors and celebrate black liberation and community!
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally-celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Despite the physical emancipation gained by enslaved Africans on June 19 1865, their descendants would go on to fight the subsequent Black Codes & Jim Crow laws and lead the Civil Rights movement to dismantle segregation and push for equal rights under the law. However, in 2021, these same descendants are still fighting for various freedoms and the same equality aforementioned.
Come celebrate Juneteenth with Michigan Liberation at the Juneteenth Liberation Celebration & Free Brake Light Clinic. Qualified volunteers will be on hand to install lights and no appointment is necessary.
Join us for a wonderful celebration of family and freedom! If unvaccinated, please mind Covid safety protocols, including wearing a mask and maintaining a safe distance from those you don’t live with.
We’re always planning events, please contact us if you want to receive updates. If you need car repair now, you can request help.
Contact
If you need help with your car outside our events, please read how to request help.
If you need other help, want to help, or want updates on future events, we also welcome your contact.
Email us at pop@ypsimutualaid.org.
Message us or follow our updates on Facebook.
Text message
Send text messages to +1 (833) 578-0425.
Send just the word “pop” to receive regular updates about our events.
About
Photograph by Jim West. © Jim West 
Why
Pull Over Prevention is our direct response to the police brutalization of Black individuals and forced deportations of immigrants. Our effort also confronts the systemic oppression of people of color through harsh punishment and steep fines for minor crimes. POP aims to bring our community together to mitigate and oppose the injustices that law enforcement inflicts on us.
We know these injustices occur because we’ve seen them firsthand, in Ypsilanti and Metro Detroit. Police target Black motorists for minor offenses, making them vulnerable to officers who are more responsible for escalating violence during traffic stops. Michigan State Police has also admitted that Black people account for 25% of traffic stops in Washtenaw County despite only being 12% of the population. Immigrants live in danger of deportation orders, which are often justified using past traffic tickets. Meanwhile, in a year of global protests against police brutality, the state of Michigan has done little to change policing.
As long as the racist and classist institution of policing exists, POP volunteers will work outside their systems of oppression to truly protect and serve our community.
How
Through POP, we aim to build a community of mutual aid and solidarity, so we can avoid confrontations with law enforcement and render them unnecessary.
Providing automotive repair is only one of the ways we want to do this. We foster relationships where friends and neighbors help each other. We organize volunteer mechanics to share their skills with motorists and other volunteers. We partner with democratic grassroots organizations to promote access to their resources.
Our ideas aren’t new! We drew inspiration the DSA New Orleans Direct Service Committee, who have hosted Brake Light Clinics since 2017 and published Gimme a Brake! (Light): A DIY Guide.
Who
Pull Over Prevention is supported by the Huron Valley Democratic Socialists of America (HVDSA), Peace House Ypsi, and The Mutual Aid Network of Ypsilanti (The MANY). We started POP in July 2020, following the murder of George Floyd by police.
Get help
Starting May 2021, POP volunteer mechanics will accept requests for help outside POP Clinics on a limited basis. We’re still new to this and have limited capacity among us volunteers, so please bear with us.
Depending on the request, POP volunteer mechanics may perform simple repairs, show how to perform repairs yourself, diagnose issues, and give advice on how to deal with issues. The repairs can be more complicated than POP Clinic repairs (lights, tires, fluids) but it still depends on the volunteer’s ability and the costs involved.
Before requesting help
We want to avoid giving false expectations, so please bear in mind:
- No guarantees. We cannot repair or diagnose every issue, especially if it’s a major or severe issue, but it does not hurt to ask us anyway.
- You may wait a few weeks. The volunteers have varying availability and personal capacity, but we will try to keep you updated while you wait.
- We can’t cover the cost of parts. We can’t afford expensive parts, but we may be able to refer you to organizations who may cover a part of the cost.
How to request help
Contact us and provide as much information as you can:
- Your car’s make, model, year
- Your car’s location – city is good enough
- Description of the issue
When we get your request, we’ll forward it to POP volunteer mechanics. We’ll let you know if they ask for more information. When a volunteer picks up the request, we will give you their availability, contact information, and what they have offered to do.
Don’t hear from us after a few weeks? Please contact us again, as we may have missed you.
Give help
There are numerous ways you can sustain and grow the mission of POP, with ways to contribute your time, resources, or money.
Volunteer
We need mechanics! If you’re a professional, hobbyist, curious, or retired mechanic, you can help make POP Clinics and help requests possible. If you might know a mechanic, please let them know about POP.
We need interpreters! Spanish and Arabic speakers often approach us for help. If you know someone who speaks a language other than English, either natively or fluently, please send them our way.
POP Clinics also need volunteers to feed people, greet attendees, care for children, and promote the events. If you’re able to offer any amount of time, we need you!
If you’ve gotten help from POP in the past, we especially welcome you to volunteer with us.
For volunteer opportunities, see our events or contact us.
Promote us
Getting the word out about POP takes up half of our labor. We’re always trying to reach out to people who need help, as well as people who want to help.
Mention us to your friends and family, and share about us online. If you use email, you can forward our email updates. If you use Facebook, you can share our events and posts.
Supply us
We accept non-monetary donations at our events, such as:
- Food and beverages, to feed attendees and volunteers
- Drawing materials, educational materials, and toys, to care for children of attendees
- Print materials related to human and immigrant rights, to inform attendees
Please feel free to contact us to coordinate your donation.
Donate event-specific materials
We may also accept other items (such as winter clothing) to give away to attendees, depending on the event. Please see our events for details.
Organize your own repair clinics
We want to share the knowledge and experience we’ve gained to organizers who want an automotive repair clinic in their community. Contact us with your questions!
We also want to refer you to Gimme a Brake! (Light): A DIY Guide, a publication by the DSA New Orleans Direct Service Committee. They are one of our initial inspirations for POP.
Change minds
Although a free car repair program can grow communal solidarity and protect the people who are able to reach us, it cannot fully reverse the harms that policing inflicts on our community. Unless we effect systemic change, law enforcement will continue to terrorize marginalized people in Washtenaw County and Metro Detroit.
Talk with your friends and family about how law enforcement oppresses and fails to uplift people where you live. Call your government representatives and demand more resources for your community instead of police. Help build public consciousness and willpower to change our current systems, so people of color and immigrants can live in peace.
Donate money
If you have the means, we welcome your monetary donations online and at our events. We use donations to stock up on automotive parts and food at our events. The MANY, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, administers our funds.