Quotas?

[Rainman]

Could be this happens only in certain cities but I'd like to know if any of you have heard of something similar. This would explain why police will arrest anyone they suspect has committed a crime because that person simply happens to "fit a description."

Six Whittier police officers are suing the city, saying they faced retaliation when they complained and refused to meet alleged ticket and arrest quotas.

The officers say the alleged ticket and arrest quotas continue to this day.

Whittier police officers sue, say they were forced to meet quotas - LA Times

Do you have ticket or arrest quotas where you work?

 

[GemmaRowlands]

Where I am from, there is a quota for parking offences, because there are so many to be found that you simply have to give officers something to work towards during the day to make sure that they're processing things as quickly as possible. When it comes to other offences, however, I don't find that it is helpful to have a quota. If somebody has broken the law they should be dealt with appropriately, and it shouldn't matter in the slightest whether it is the first, second or third person who the police officer has seen that day already. So it is vital that you are still dealing with criminals appropriately, as this is the only way that you will be able to keep people safe in the place that we live. I like to think that the police would be making decisions for the right reasons rather than just because they need to hit a certain number of arrests or investigations.

 

[Gelsemium]

This is a great question and I feel that there quotas yes for tickets, for arrests I really don't think so, I mean, who gets arrested is because it deserves, not due to quotas.

 

[missbishi]

Well good on the officers for refusing to comply with this unlawful practise. Their principles are refreshing and I wish them every success in court.

 

[timelord731]

I have an uncle who used to be a detective. He said that the patrols would often have "implied quotas" or they would be unofficially reprimanded.

 

[JoanMcWench]

I feel like I wrote about this before but I'm aware of certain quotas in that there are numbers expected of officers. I'm also aware that in certain areas amounts of tickets are rewarded with things.

 

[Patrick]

I doubt that there are official quotas that are imposed. However police officers who never gave out tickets would appear to be skiving on the job, there is an innate incentive for them to give out more tickets to prove themselves to their superiors.

 

[hellonamesdan]

When I was living somewhere that I had to drive down a highway every day and across a bridge just to get to work every day, I always thought it was so funny that at the end of the month all of the sudden the highway middle roads would always be full of cops just waiting to pull people over.

 

[pandabear1991]

Usually at the end/first of every month. These are the days that you would drive to work (especially on busy roads with constant/steady usual speedsters and high traffic volumes) and you would see at least 4 different posted cops on your way to work, and cops in different locations along the same roads on the way back. Trust me, they were constantly pulling people over on these days. Otherwise, they were never usually on these streets with so many patrolling the same area at one time.

I don't think its fair to officers. I feel there are more important community things they could be doing with that many officers patrolling/on duty at one time.