NYC Police have ticket quotas

It's been rumored for years that police departments put ticket quotas on their officers. According to the New York Post, 2 NYC sergeants have come forward to confirm that the rumors are true. One even produced a memo from their commander that stated certain ticketing quotas needed to be met to avoid receiving a poor performance review.

In New York City, the police department has always denied any such thing as ticket quotas.

However, the New York Post reported Monday that two city police sergeants have testified they were ordered to meet a quota. The testimony came during a closed door grievance hearing.

Sources told the newspaper that one sergeant even produced a memo from a commander spelling out just how many traffic summonses and quality-of-life tickets they needed to give out to avoid getting a poor performance review.

The precinct's commanding officer, Deputy Chief Michael Marino, admitted at the hearing that he wrote the note but said it was only one of several types of criteria that he used to assess his officers, the newspaper said, citing unidentified sources.

The city's Police Benevolent Association has complained that forcing officers to meet a quota forces them to write tickets for ridiculous reasons.

"The evidence presented under oath in this arbitration proves once again what police officers have long lived with: There are established quotas, and if you don't meet them, you will be punished," the PBA's President Patrick Lynch said in a statement.

www.msnbc.msn.com...

It's nice to have that confirmation. I'm sure it's the same in any city, not just NYC.

I've always assumed that a certain amount of tickets needed to be written each month. It really makes sense. If some traffic cop writes one ticket a week, he MUST be eating too many donuts.
Heaven knows there's plenty of bad drivers out there. I pay his salary and expect hime to issue warings for bad driving.
I know some cops give bogus tickets, gooten a few of those, but I got to hope most tickets are legit.

In fact, that the crux of the matter: No one minds tickets that are warranted but when you get some macho cop who likes to write tickets to show how important he is

The cops and city administration have been saying, insisting, for a long time that there are no quotas. This sorta makes them into liars, no?

while there has never been hard evidence (memos ) to prove this, one of the local papers here (NYC) ran some figures a few years ago that showed the number of tickets given out were largest at the end of each month, which showed that the cops were working hard to either meet an actual quota or, at the very least, make it appear as if they were actually working.

I live and drive in NYC on a regular basis and I find it hard to believe that anyone thinks there wasn't a quota. I also think the quotas aren't that big of a deal. There are so many traffic and parking ticket opportunities on a daily basis that the cops will meet their quotas easily, if they do their jobs. I think the quotas are designed to keep the cops working, not keep the public paying.

The proof has always been there, just not confessed to.
Just look at the number of cops there are on the road in the beginning and at the end of the month compared to the rest of the time. I swear, that in the 16 miles between my home and work, during the first and last weeks of the month, there are at least 6 patrol cars but the rest of the time, you would be lcuky to find one.

Originally posted by Crakeur
I think the quotas are designed to keep the cops working, not keep the public paying.

I'd have to say that's it's a bit of both, IMO.

Many local and state law enforcement agencies have quotas for tickets and things like that. There is a reason.....Funding!!!

If they can prove to the local/state government that they need more money to fight....let's say speeding or running redlights, then they can get that extra money.

However if there is not any proof to back up the request...then they do not get the funding.

I don't see anything wrong with quotas....as long as it does not put a burden on the officer because the quota may be unrealistic, like 20 in a small town, that's too much. As long as it's controlled and realistic then Im all for it. But all too often this quota system could be unrealistic.

Hell, I bet many of us have been lucky a few times......when we were speeding and passed a cop, he just might have already met his quota for that month

It can work for you and against you.

Originally posted by mpeake

Originally posted by Crakeur
I think the quotas are designed to keep the cops working, not keep the public paying.

I'd have to say that's it's a bit of both, IMO.

obviously the public pays when more tickets are written but I think that the quotas were put in place solely to keep the cops from sleeping on the job. Without them, the traffic cops would sit in their brown cars or stand on the corner sleeping. They suck at their job to begin with, the lack of these quotas would make them completely useless, unless you want to include directing traffic poorly, which they seem to do with much panache.

In previous history the NYPD has always denied a quota system "on the record" even to their own cadets in the Police Academy. Over the years the practice slowly but surely came to light, but still unofficially. As recently as a year ago it had become public knowledge among most in the political arenas in NYC that there was a sort of performance system in place in which those who weren't producing enough would have issues.

The problem with quotas is multifaceted. First and foremost, it leads to a lax attitude for much of the reporting period, and a vast sometimes noticeable pickup towards the end of the period. Second, it leads to the issuing of summonses in a hurry that do not hold up in court. It does not look good for an officer to issue 40 tickets on the last day of the month and have 36 of them beaten in court.

Those two issues were not made up by me though. They're directly from the mouths of Public Information officers and used to deny the quota charges. Funny thing about them is that they're absolutely right. Poor practice...

By the way, Traffic uses dark blue now, not brown. Their uniforms also are made to match standard NYPD uniforms. Off the record, that was because they were getting beaten up at an alarming rate while writing tickets.

[edit on 6-20-2005 by Djarums]

Originally posted by kenshiro2012
The proof has always been there, just not confessed to.
Just look at the number of cops there are on the road in the beginning and at the end of the month compared to the rest of the time. I swear, that in the 16 miles between my home and work, during the first and last weeks of the month, there are at least 6 patrol cars but the rest of the time, you would be lcuky to find one.

DITTO!

I have an uncle that has been a traffic cop in two different states. He admitted that in the state with no quota, none of the cops really cared and people would drive around with no seat belts and drive as fast as they felt like. Of course the one with the quota was the opposite and he had to do what he had to do. Sucks that I'm in the state with the quota.

Originally posted by Djarums
By the way, Traffic uses dark blue now, not brown. Their uniforms also are made to match standard NYPD uniforms. Off the record, that was because they were getting beaten up at an alarming rate while writing tickets.

[edit on 6-20-2005 by Djarums]

I was referring to their brown cars, not uniforms.

Here in the U.K traffic wardens have quotas/targets they have to meet. This means they go around throwing tickets on cars left right and centre just to hit target.

Police also have arrest targets too. Search me how that works...?

Traffic, Auxilliary and School Safety were switched to very dark blue cars a number of years ago.



The only brown units left are the four legged variety:

they're definitely still using the old brown bombers. I know this because last week I had a great view of one as I was getting a lecture about parking in a bus stop.

Most cities have these quota systems in place. My dad being a fireman, I got the inside stories on these. When Northbrook, the town I grew up in, first imposed ticket quotas in the mid 80s, one of the cops was really upset about it. As a result, the day the quotas were instituted, he sat outside of city hall and filled his quota the first day going after city officials. Naturally, that didn't go over well, and he was told that, while the quota still stands, they will not be counted if they happen right around the village hall.

So speed at the end of the month, and obey the laws at the beginning!

Personally I miss the old cars... Gimme this one any day: