A running gag/UL is that police departments have “ticket quotas”. If there are any
police(wo)men out there, I’d like to hear from you.
If you think about it, though, how many traffic violations do YOU see and/or commit on a daily basis? Speeding, even trivial, but ticketable offenses such as failure to yield right of way, not signaling lane changes or turns (this is my #1 pet peeve), etc.
I see at least 4-5 each way to work and I imagine police officers see at least that many.
Just curious…
In Houston, a few years ago, the police went on a strike of sorts. They didn’t do the “blue flu” thing, but they refused to meet their ticket quota (KLOL reported that the quota was 2 tickets per officer, per day.)
I don’t recall ever hearing what happened after that, or hearing how much money the city may have “lost” because of it.
I was already driving 70-80 mph down I-45 and 1960 (at 3 am, going to work), so I didn’t drive any faster because of it, either.
-David
I’ve only known two police officers well, both swore there was no such thing as ‘quotas’. However, as with any job, if it seems evident that you are lounging around all day and not doing your job - you may not have it long. So police do have incentive to write citations.
In Houston a few years ago? In Houston now they are giving A LOT fewer tickets. Because they are required to asses data on them. I am all for it. They will have to adapt. The technology is there. A swipe of a barcoded drivers licencs can solve that.
What kind of data?
-David
I remember in the Champaign-Urbana area talking to a local attorney about the cops and tickets. There, they didn’t have quotas, but they had a point system. Parking ticket is 1/2 point. Moving violation is 1-2 points. Arresting a murderer is 50 points. They needed like 30 points/month, if memory serves (all these numbers are from memory and could be off, incidentally). So, if you’re a patrol cop, what are the odds you’re going to bag a murderer? Not too high. So instead you write tickets. No quota, but the same outcome.
You’d think they have to do something (points, quotas, whatever) to show that they’re doing their part in raising revenue for their organization.
What kind of Data?
Not sure of the exact details, but they have to fill out a form for EVERY person they pull over, whether they give a ticket or not. Basically they have to answer questions on race, age, and other demographic stuff. The idea is to put solid statistics behind who is getting pulled over. I believe this is a result of a federal mandate.
And if you’re going to pull someone over anyway, why not take the opportunity to hand out a ticket and make that all-important lousy .5 point? A quota system by any name is still a quota system, and leads inevitably to a situation where a patrol officer, even if he or she is conscientiously trying to be fair-minded, will be pulling over his or her least-favorite ethnic group for special consideration.
CERTIFIABLY NOT!