Another State to Ban Quotas

[patric]

It's every motorist's end-of-month fear: ticket quotas.

Most police departments insist that quotas are urban legends. But a growing number of states are beginning to outlaw the practice of requiring police officers to issue a certain number of traffic tickets to meet job performance goals.

Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, wants Utah to join the list.

"It really becomes a cash cow for the municipality to write tickets," he said.

Hansen said police departments are turning into tax collectors instead of allowing officers to use their discretion. He said this puts the public at risk because police patrol areas that generate more revenue instead of the most dangerous and that police spend time writing tickets to meet goals instead of doing more important work.

"What it really boils down to is, if I'm an officer and a sergeant told me I need to write eight tickets a day, I also have calls of domestic disputes and shoplifting. It's getting to be about an hour before my time is off, and I'm just going to go write a ticket for the first person I see," he said.

Hansen tried to outlaw ticket quotas last year. His bill passed in the House, but failed to get enough support in a Senate committee. It failed
on a 2-2 vote while three other lawmakers were absent.

His primary opposition is the police chief of his own town -- who is also a member of the Senate.

Sen. Jon Greiner, R-Ogden, says Hansen doesn't have any proof of a quota system in Utah. He said Hansen is "maligning" his department, and
Hansen's bill could keep police officers from issuing any tickets.

He said Hansen and other supporters of the bill need to decide if they want traffic laws enforced.

"They can't have it both ways, and say we want people to be safe but don't enforce, don't write tickets. Which is it this week?" he said.

Hansen contends Ogden's police department is notorious for using a quota system. Greiner disagrees.

Both, however, agree that the department uses the number of citations issued by an officer as part of an annual job review. The number of
citations issued is one of more than a dozen criteria the department uses to evaluate employees.

Greiner said officers helped set the goals and believe they are reasonable. To get the highest rating in that category, Greiner said
officers need to issue five citations a week. But, he said, with other criteria used to evaluate employees, officers could still get a raise even if they never issued a single ticket.

Nine states, including Montana, Texas and Florida, have statutes prohibiting law enforcement from setting ticket quotas. Hansen said he believes he has the support this year to make it illegal in Utah too.

"I'm pretty sure it's going to pass this year. I've had more legislators come to me and say, 'If you run your bill, I'm on board this time.'
They're seeing it in their communities now, and they're starting to see it's a bigger and widespread problem," he said.

Orem Police Chief Michael Larsen said he's not opposed to the idea of banning quotas, but Hansen's bill goes too far.

Hansen named Orem as a Utah city with a quota problem, although Larsen said the department has never had a quota system in the 30 years he's
worked there.

"On every stop they make, it's their discretion whether they write a citation or not or to give a warning," he said. "We have evaluation
criteria and ... one of those criteria is productivity. But that does not necessarily include traffic enforcement. It's a wide scope of 'What is this employee doing on a day-to-day basis?"'

Larsen said most traffic enforcement is driven by calls from residents complaining about speeding. He said if Hansen's bill passes, an officer could refuse to write any tickets.

"It prevents me from managing my department and responding to citizen concerns," he said.

Brock Vergakis - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/244766/

[inteller]

the guy is a senator AND a police chief?  That just screams crooked....but then again we are talking about Utah.

[Friendly Bear]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

the guy is a senator AND a police chief?  That just screams crooked....but then again we are talking about Utah.

Sounds incestuous?  Right, sounds like:  UTAH.

[Wilbur]

I certainly can't speak for all departments across the United States but I don't know of any agency that has a specific quota for tickets.  With that being said, if your duties are that of a traffic officer, and you don't write any tickets, you probably won't be in that unit very long.  The same could be said for the robbery detective who solved no robberies.

I was particularly fond of the quote:

quote: He said this puts the public at risk because police patrol areas that generate more revenue...

Of course, what he means is, he doesn't want officers writing tickets where there are a lot of violations.  You have to have a lot of violations in order to write the tickets that generate the revenue.  No violations mean no tickets.

Once again, another representative who feels those 43,000+ people who died in collisions last year don't matter.  And that same representative certainly has the power to do away with those pesky traffic laws that get enforced.  If he doesn't want the laws enforced, then do away with the laws, don't bi!ch at the police for enforcing the law he put on the books.  And please don't pass laws that can't be enforced or have no penalty.  That is a waste of everyone's time.

[RecycleMichael]

I have told this story before...but I reserve the right to repeat myself.

I was stopped by a policeman for speeding many years ago (not in Tulsa). I was guilty and confessed to the officer in order to hope he would laugh at my jokes and just give me a warning.

I joked and said I hoped this filled his quota to which he replied, "Nope, two more and my wife gets a toaster."

I laughed for miles.

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by Friendly Bear

Sounds incestuous?  Right, sounds like:  UTAH.

Its not that isolated:

Quotas boost the number of traffic tickets issued by the Washington State Patrol.
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/20/2090.asp

Officials with the Washington State Patrol set numeric goals that encourage state police officers to issue as many traffic citations as possible. The effect has been a significant increase in the number of tickets written -- 50,000 additional tickets were issued between 2005 and 2006. The boost came as the percentage of motorists who received tickets instead of warnings jumped from 43 percent in 2004 to 63 percent in 2006.

"We did ask our troopers to be a little less tolerant," Assistant State Patrol Chief Brian Ursino told KING-TV. "There isn't any quotas but there is accountability."

A Bellvue state patrol sergeant issued a memo ordering troopers to meet the accountability goals, writing: "No matter how many cars you stop, the goal... is 80 percent enforcement (tickets)."

Those failing to meet the goal may lose vacation time or receive other sanctions. KING-TV cited a March memo that suggested troopers who stopped 1200 drivers and issued at least 660 traffic tickets would receive a commendation -- essential for officers seeking to increase their pay through promotions.

Legislators including state Representative Shirley Hankins (R-Richland) have called for an end to ticket quotas, but the state patrol has a powerful ally. Former Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee Chairman Al O'Brien (D-Mountlake Terrace) spent 29 years working as a Seattle Police sergeant. O'Brien now chairs the Public Safety Committee and refuses to hold a hearing on any ticket quota bill.

Ticket quotas are nothing new for the Washington State Police. In 2002, a public records request by the Washington Seatbelt Coalition uncovered a confidential "Traffic Safety Blitz" memo urging a specific number of tickets issued each hour.

"During the emphasis, officers shall contact a minimum of three (3) violators per working hour with the desired outcome of 3 occupant protection/speed infractions per hour," Deputy State Patrol Chief Lowell M. Porter wrote. "Officers failing to meet the minimum requirement may be replaced."

Source: Are WSP troopers filling ticket quotas? (KING-TV (WA),
http://www.king5.com/localnews/investigators/stories/NW_112607INV_wsp_citations_KS.36381160.html 11/27/2007)

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

if your duties are that of a traffic officer, and you don't write any tickets, you probably won't be in that unit very long.

Do police officers really interpret "dont have quotas" as "dont enforce any laws", or is that just an attempt to obscure the point?

[Wilbur]

quote:Originally posted by patric

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

if your duties are that of a traffic officer, and you don't write any tickets, you probably won't be in that unit very long.

Do police officers really interpret "dont have quotas" as "dont enforce any laws", or is that just an attempt to obscure the point?

So a traffic officer should come to work for 40-hours a week, don't write any tickets, even though those are his only duties, and that is okay with you?

[sgrizzle]

Now what we're saying is that you should want to do more...

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by patric


Do police officers really interpret "dont have quotas" as "dont enforce any laws", or is that just an attempt to obscure the point?

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur


So a traffic officer should come to work for 40-hours a week, don't write any tickets, even though those are his only duties, and that is okay with you?

If my obfuscation filter is working properly, you've just answered "yes" to one or both of my questions.  Otherwise, im unaware of any point in this discussion where anyone suggested police not write any tickets.  It's as if quotas have become so ubiquitous that it's hard to make the distinction between safety and revenue anymore.

[Wilbur]

quote:Originally posted by patric

quote:Originally posted by patric


Do police officers really interpret "dont have quotas" as "dont enforce any laws", or is that just an attempt to obscure the point?

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur


So a traffic officer should come to work for 40-hours a week, don't write any tickets, even though those are his only duties, and that is okay with you?

If my obfuscation filter is working properly, you've just answered "yes" to one or both of my questions.  Otherwise, im unaware of any point in this discussion where anyone suggested police not write any tickets.  It's as if quotas have become so ubiquitous that it's hard to make the distinction between safety and revenue anymore.

Safety and revenue are easy.  When collisions stop, safety has been achieved.  Tulsa has 1,400 collisions a month (that's 17,000 a year!) alone, all due to traffic violations.  Is that number acceptable?  Each one is preventable.  None should ever happen, because each was caused by someone willingly committing a traffic violation.  Collisions cost citizens more money then all other crimes combined 10-fold.  Why is that okay?  What other crimes should be okay?

I've made the argument before, when the cost of insurance on our $10K car is more then our $100K house, that should tell us something.

If you want to say that traffic officers have to write tickets, thus that somehow is a quota, then, okay, a quota, although, there is no specific number each has to write.

And in another post, someone mentioned three citations per hour (in Washington).  Does anyone realize how easy that is.  Each traffic stop takes about 10 minutes.  If you only stop three cars, that's 30 minutes per hour.  You write more then one ticket per stop and it becomes even easier.  You stop one speeder who isn't wearing their seatbelt and doesn't have their driver license with them and you've already hit three.

Does Tulsa depend on traffic tickets for revenue.  I guess that would be one source of revenue, but it is such a small source in the grand scheme of the City's budget it's hardly a blip.

[Breadburner]

Houses don't move and are less likely to cause accidents according to insurance professionals.....Hence the lower rates on homes....heh..

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

When collisions stop, safety has been achieved.  Tulsa has 1,400 collisions a month (that's 17,000 a year!) alone, all due to traffic violations.  Is that number acceptable?  Each one is preventable.  None should ever happen, because each was caused by someone willingly committing a traffic violation.  Collisions cost citizens more money then all other crimes combined 10-fold.  Why is that okay?  What other crimes should be okay?

You have made a good argument for needing to enforce traffic laws, but you are essentially preaching to the choir.  
Traffic enforcement is the result of actions or omissions on the part of motorists that compel an officer to respond.  When an officer (or department) actively seeks out a numerical minimum of actions or omissions to fit pretextual "responses" it ceases to become enforcement.  

Want to turn around the public's perceptions on this?  A good start would be to have the motorcycle unit directing traffic at trouble spots instead of just making collections.  71st street near 169 would be a good candidate during the shopping season, and ill bet the local media would love to get pictures if that ever happened.
Wonder how many collisions that might prevent?

[Wilbur]

quote:Originally posted by patric

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

When collisions stop, safety has been achieved.  Tulsa has 1,400 collisions a month (that's 17,000 a year!) alone, all due to traffic violations.  Is that number acceptable?  Each one is preventable.  None should ever happen, because each was caused by someone willingly committing a traffic violation.  Collisions cost citizens more money then all other crimes combined 10-fold.  Why is that okay?  What other crimes should be okay?

You have made a good argument for needing to enforce traffic laws, but you are essentially preaching to the choir.  
Traffic enforcement is the result of actions or omissions on the part of motorists that compel an officer to respond.  When an officer (or department) actively seeks out a numerical minimum of actions or omissions to fit pretextual "responses" it ceases to become enforcement.  

Want to turn around the public's perceptions on this?  A good start would be to have the motorcycle unit directing traffic at trouble spots instead of just making collections.  71st street near 169 would be a good candidate during the shopping season, and ill bet the local media would love to get pictures if that ever happened.
Wonder how many collisions that might prevent?

The notion that police officers can fix traffic congestion is wrong.  Officers directing traffic have to have a place to send the traffic.  When traffic is simply congested, there is no place to send it.  Officers can not work intersections BETTER then the traffic signals, and usually just make matters worse.  Traffic Engineers study traffic patterns and counts, then design intersections and provide controls based on best case.  Some officer stepping into the middle of the road will not do things any better.

The problem with 71st and Highway 169 is too much growth, thus too much traffic.  No police officer can fix that.  The only option for police to relieve the problem would be to tell most folks they can't go there.  That would go over like a fart in church, to both the shoppers and the store owners.

[patric]

Oklahoma Senate passes ban on ticket quotas for law officer job evaluations
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/government/oklahoma-senate-passes-ban-on-ticket-quotas-for-law-officer/article_fb4dbcde-add7-5146-9fbf-541886c4c413.html


OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Senate on Thursday passed a measure that would ban law enforcement agencies from using ticket quotas in employee evaluations.
Senate Bill 1815 by Sen. Bryce Marlatt, R-Woodward, passed 35-1 and heads to the House floor.

According to the measure, a peace officer may not be evaluated "according to an officer's issuance of a predetermined or specified number of any type or combination of types of traffic citations."
Marlatt said he proposed the bill because members of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol have told him they are evaluated on the number of tickets they write.

"Overwhelmingly, they didn't think it was a good thing," he said. "They thought it took a lot of their discretion away and forced them into towns to try to meet certain quotas because there is more traffic in those towns."

Marlatt called the patrol an elite police force.

"They are perfectly capable of deciding if someone deserves a citation or not," he said, noting that the measure is not just limited to the OHP.

OHP Capt. Randy Rogers, the legislative liaison for the patrol, said the number of contacts a trooper makes per day is a small part of the performance evaluation.
Contacts per day include citations, warnings and motorist assists, he said.

The OHP did not take a position on the bill, Rogers said.