Utah to Ban Ticket Quotas Police Say Don’t Exist?
Police officers looking for a promotion often are judged by the number of tickets they write.
if I write 100 tickets and you write 30 I may well be on my way to detective and you could find yourself emptying parking meters
Maybe it’s not the best approach to evaluate law enforcement but a department is looking for some measurement of activity. Most departments deny there are official quotas. It may well be true but if I write 100 tickets and you write 30 I may well be on my way to detective and you could find yourself emptying parking meters (a friend got assigned the latter as he approached retirement and superiors didn’t believe his heart was any longer in his work).
A legislator in Utah proposes encoding a ban on quotas in law. He also has the support of a police union, which would rather its members be promoted simply on merit. From my experience driving the roads of our southern neighbor, I don’t believe a quota system is needed. I don’t see a lot of speeding and I suspect it’s because you get a ticket for breaking the law, quota or no quota!