Police Officer Sues Under Whistleblower Act After Refusing To Target Younger Drivers and Meet Quotas - Polidicks

[QUOTE=MuTAnT;45723364]Are arrest/ticket quotas not illegal in the US?[/QUOTE] Quota's are not official things that exist, They are used unofficially to control OT and other benefits and promotions like this article. Example: Officer meets his quota from his captain that is not officially documented, this officer all the OT he wants Officer does not meet his quota, will get little to no OT even if there is plenty to go around [b]and will be dropped to the far bottom of the list for any type of promotions even with amazing stats and background[/b] Example from this article that's even worse Officer refuses to follow unofficial quotas from his captain and refuses to profile, Captain/Police Force respond back by refusing to promote him and rather promote people who are no where near qualified as him or have any experience like him, also reducing his OT to little to nothing.

Quotas are an actual thing? No wonder the cops stop people around here for stupid shit. This reminds me of something... [video=youtube;BUt045JOXVc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUt045JOXVc[/video]

[QUOTE=CubeManv2;45722591]they are literally saying, i don't care if no one is breaking the law, ticket them anyway[/QUOTE] I studied this and that isn't what generally happens. Officers quickly learn where [I]"Crime"[/I] commonly happens, even if it is something as little as a minor traffic violation. Since officers are required to aid in making society a better place, and currently society isn't at peace, there is an arbitrary quota that each officer should fill to make it better. When they find their quota to be low, they will go to these easy spots and catch those who are barely go over the speed limit, then return to duty. Now this isn't really a good thing because it wastes the officer's time when they just be doing their normal routine. There needs to be a better system, this same thing happens here in Canada as well as the U.S. Of course corruption can happen anywhere, but it isn't everywhere. People will just assume that when they get a ticket it's because the officer is out to get them.

[QUOTE=Banhfunbags;45723079]Ticket quotas aren't entirely a bad thing. If they weren't there then we would have police officers getting paid to do nothing. Obviously either way you don't entirely win.[/QUOTE] they get paid to enforce the law, if there is no one breaking the law they are doing their job. now if they're arresting/ticketing people for no reason to meet a quota then we have police officers getting paid to be bullies.

I've never heard of such quotas here in Finland. Is it a US thing?

[QUOTE=booster;45724941]I've never heard of such quotas here in Finland. Is it a US thing?[/QUOTE] Unofficial quota's control officers OT Hours, Meet your superiors quota's and you get OT, you don't meet them you'll get little or no OT. Overall it means people who profile and meet there quotas get higher pay

Quota's are illegal and obviously unethical. But I do know of situations where police who have become salty about being called out on letting large amounts of people off on warnings for no reason have complained that they had 'quotas' when realistically they were just not enforcing road rules (hence the reason that the person didn't challenge it either). Obviously what's happening here is corrupt, but I don't think it's quite as endemic as some people are making out. Also, to people who say they are getting pulled over for bullshit reasons - challenge it in court. If what you're saying is true then not only will it get thrown out but a sudden influx of bullshit tickets (and I'm talking truly baseless no-evidence tickets) will be picked up and investigated. It's unacceptable and putting it aside saying it isn't worth the effort gets us nowhere. Even if you were in the wrong but have a decent excuse often the court will have far more leniancy than the cop at the scene did. (I'm in Australia - I understand it's probably different in the USA and I'm genuinely interested to hear peoples experiences if they have tried challenging baseless tickets)

[QUOTE=Pat.Lithium;45724782]they get paid to enforce the law, if there is no one breaking the law they are doing their job. now if they're arresting/ticketing people for no reason to meet a quota then we have police officers getting paid to be bullies.[/QUOTE] You seriously have a different view on this than I do. In theory quotas exist so that police officers don't sit on their asses and let people get away with crime while getting paid with the taxpayer's money. You assume that all cops are evil and will arrest anyone just to meet their quota.

[QUOTE=Banhfunbags;45725083]You seriously have a different view on this than I do. In theory quotas exist so that police officers don't sit on their asses and let people get away with crime while getting paid with the taxpayer's money. You assume that all cops are evil and will arrest anyone just to meet their quota.[/QUOTE] I know what you're saying - but isn't a current situation most LACs (or PDs in the US or whatever you call them wherever you are) follow a KPI system? Where they look at how many are being handed out on average across a time period then follow-up (punish if need be) specific officers who are significantly out of proportion to the rest of their colleagues? That way there's no quota or hard-set limits however it can be assured they aren't sitting on their arses.

[QUOTE=shauntp;45725110]I know what you're saying - but isn't a current situation most LACs (or PDs in the US or whatever you call them wherever you are) follow a KPI system? Where they look at how many are being handed out on average across a time period then follow-up (punish if need be) specific officers who are significantly out of proportion to the rest of their colleagues? That way there's no quota or hard-set limits however it can be assured they aren't sitting on their arses.[/QUOTE] I'm not sure about that, but my city has a quota for its police officers. There are pros and cons to every system but what you stated would logically be a better system overall than quotas, but I'm no law maker.

[QUOTE=Sableye;45722541]wow a police officer not abusing his power![/QUOTE] If you read the article - a lot aren't abusing power, they just want to keep their jobs. [QUOTE=Banhfunbags;45725148]I'm not sure about that, but my city has a quota for its police officers. There are pros and cons to every system but what you stated would logically be a better system overall than quotas, but I'm no law maker.[/QUOTE] Quotas are idiotic in terms of police work - they are in fact contrary to what the police should accomplish. A police department should not function as a secondary cash source for city councils. The thing is - police officers, city, state or federal, tend to get regular reviews where their performance is assessed. You don't need quotas for this, since there's a lot more little bitss that can change or skew similar results.

[QUOTE=wraithcat;45725349]If you read the article - a lot aren't abusing power, they just want to keep their jobs. Quotas are idiotic in terms of police work - they are in fact contrary to what the police should accomplish. A police department should not function as a secondary cash source for city councils. The thing is - police officers, city, state or federal, tend to get regular reviews where their performance is assessed. You don't need quotas for this, since there's a lot more little bitss that can change or skew similar results.[/QUOTE] Just because police officers are told to pull over at least x drivers at random every shift doesn't necessarily mean that fines will be issued in proportion to x. But if an officer does notice a defect, the officer is doing their job. If the officer is in the wrong and the officer knows that, the officer will get punished later on when the driver takes the fine to court for wasting police time.

[QUOTE=Banhfunbags;45723079]Ticket quotas aren't entirely a bad thing. If they weren't there then we would have police officers getting paid to do nothing. Obviously either way you don't entirely win.[/QUOTE] I would love to live in a nation where police have nothing to do. However, right now, police are focusing on ticketing and quotas rather than, i don't know, all the crime everywhere.

[QUOTE=SaltyWaters;45732768]I would love to live in a nation where police have nothing to do. However, right now, police are focusing on ticketing and quotas rather than, i don't know, all the crime everywhere.[/QUOTE] I don't think the police can really stop the cause of many crimes, which may be the result of poor socioeconomic conditions. That's the job for social services and the like. But yes, they can respond to those crimes when they happen and I'm pretty sure that's exactly what they do.

In my town we have an interaction quota, officers need to interact with the community and log these interactions. It makes sure they're a presence in the community. While a traffic stop counts as an interaction, so does talking to someone at a gas station or walking around a park and socializing. I think its a good system.

[QUOTE=Banhfunbags;45725083]You seriously have a different view on this than I do. In theory quotas exist so that police officers don't sit on their asses and let people get away with crime while getting paid with the taxpayer's money. You assume that all cops are evil and will arrest anyone just to meet their quota.[/QUOTE] So in theory police officers are evil and let people get away with crime by not doing anything?