Police officers, have your ticket quotas gone up to pay for gas, budget deficits, etc?

Question

There was an article in the paper the other day about some dumpy city charging 5 bucks extra on speeding tickets to raise additional cash. Have any of you cops had your ticket quotas increased to raise additional revenue?

Please don't bother responding if you are going to insult my intelligence and say you don't have a quota.

Answer 1

They make more stops now, it's all about the money.

They don't call them "quotas" anymore, they call it "productivity".

Answer 2

Okay, I'm not insulting your intelligence, just educating you. The United States Supreme Court ruled in the 1980's that quotas were constitutionally illegal. Therefore, if any agency has a quota, that agency is breaking the law.



But you are correct in that numerous agencies have started charging a fuel surtax to cover the costs of having to drive large, gas-guzzling vehicles to catch the speeders.



Quotas are illegal, if you don't want to hear that, then don't ask questions about quotas.

Answer 3

Quotas are unconstitutional.



The public would not tolerate them, and police unions would not allow them. Some departments have "performance standards" where they expect you to be near average on the department with tickets, but that number fluctuates, and is not a set quota. Federal law also prohibits an employer for taking disciplinary action against an officer for not writing tickets.



The fuel tax surcharge you are referring to is common in retail and delivery. I see it on bus tours, restaurant and tavern deliveries, and many other private businesses.

Answer 4

I don't know if the quotas are real or not, but I do know that where I live, the police have been 'perching' (sitting in inconspicuous places watching for speeders) a lot more lately.