Bills look at ending ticket quotas
Work continues in statehouses to put an end to practices that require law enforcement officers to engage in ticket-writing sprees.
About 20 states have acted to discourage practices that pressure law enforcement officers to write tickets and/or make arrests.
Below is a rundown of legislation around the country to implement rules to eliminate potential abuses.
Alabama
One Alabama House bill is intended to prevent aggressive ticketing practices.
HB362 would prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from establishing ticket quotas. Agencies also would be forbidden from providing incentives for issuing traffic tickets.
Illinois
Since 2014, Illinois law has forbidden any requirement “to issue a specific number of citations within a designated period of time.” Law enforcement agencies are prohibited from evaluating personnel based on the number of tickets written or arrests made.
The 7-year-old law allows state, county and municipal police departments to continue to use officer contacts as an evaluative tool. The exercise covers any instance where an officer makes contact with someone.
Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, has introduced HB3055 to prohibit municipalities from using points systems, quotas or any related process to track or account for citations or warnings issued by a police officer. Specifically, the number of traffic stops completed and written warnings could not be included in the state’s definition of “points of contact.”
Nevada
A bill halfway through the Nevada Legislature would forbid police departments from any requirement for officers to issue a specific number of citations. The same protection would be implemented to protect officers from making a certain number of arrests.
Additionally, departments would be prohibited from considering citations written or arrests made when evaluating officer performance.
The Assembly voted to advance AB186 to the Senate.
During committee discussion on the bill, Assemblywoman Rochelle Nguyen, D-Las Vegas, referred to the quota system as a “perverse policing activity.”
She added that quotas are used to fund certain departments and to evaluate personnel.
“Their use damages the integrity of law enforcement in communities throughout Nevada,” Nguyen testified.
Critics question whether quotas exist in the state. They add that departments should be able to use citation and arrest data when evaluating officers.
New Jersey
A New Jersey Senate-approved bill is intended to curb policing for profit.
State law prohibits ticketing numbers from being the “sole” factor when evaluating officer performance.
Sponsored by Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Hunterdon/Mercer, S1322 would close the loophole. Specifically, law enforcement agencies would be prohibited from using the volume of an officer’s arrests or citations as a factor when evaluating that officer’s overall performance.
“Officers are all too often pressured to write more tickets to increase revenue and help municipalities balance their budgets,” Turner said in previous remarks.
Critics say there is no one-size-fits-all standard of performance for law enforcement. Instead, police chiefs need to have the ability to establish performance measures and expectations specific to their individual agencies.
Another provision in the bill would prohibit agencies from posting arrest and citation data in common areas accessible to all officers “to create competition between officers concerning arrests and citations.”
New York
Two bills introduced in each chamber of the New York State Legislature also address the issue.
The Assembly bill is meant to remove a gap in the protection against overzealous ticketing.
The Empire State prohibits an employer from transferring or penalizing a police officer for failure to meet an established ticket quota.
Bill supporters point out it is possible, however, that an employer could deny a promotion to a police officer who fails to meet a quota.
In an effort to address the concern, A1405 would outlaw an employer from denying a promotion to an officer solely because the officer failed to meet an established quota.
A related Senate bill covers concern about ticket quotas. S1253 would specify that violation of existing statute could result in up to one year in jail.
Oklahoma
An Oklahoma Senate bill targets ticket quotas.
State law prohibits cities and towns from generating more than half of their revenue through traffic fines.
SB346 would outlaw local governments and police departments from requiring officers to issue a certain number of citations within a specific period of time. Additionally, agencies would be prohibited from evaluating personnel based on the number of tickets written or arrests made.
Violators would face removal from their position.
“It’s no secret that quotas exist for many jurisdictions across the state,” Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, said in previous remarks. “These practices prohibit our law enforcement officers from effectively doing their jobs.”
Pennsylvania
A Pennsylvania bill would ban ticket quota language for any regional police department or agency in the state.
HB134 would outlaw any quota order, mandate or requirement.
The protection would forbid law enforcement agencies from directly or indirectly suggesting to any officer that the officer issue a certain number of citations over a specified period of time.
Failed efforts
Bills in Minnesota and Mississippi to address the concerns about ticket quotas have met their demise.
In Minnesota, two bills on the issue failed to advance prior to deadlines.
Statute forbids law enforcement agencies from implementing an order, mandate, requirement or suggestion to an officer a citation quota.
Companion bills in both statehouse chambers called for extending the protection to include prohibiting any agency from using the number of citations issued, the number of traffic stops made, or traffic enforcement activity by an officer as criteria to evaluate performance. The protection also would apply to arrests.
The Mississippi bill sought to prohibit any law enforcement agency from establishing a policy that requires officers to meet a citation quota.
The measure called for forbidding the number of arrests or citations issued by an officer from being the sole criteria for a promotion, demotion or dismissal. Arrests or citations issued could be considered when evaluating overall performance.
Mississippi senators approved the bill, but it did not come up for consideration in the House. LL