It is not uncommon drivers to be pulled over and ticketed near the end of the month, drawing into question whether their citation was part of a ticket quota.
Concern about police departments using ticket quotas has resulted in more than half of all states enacting rules to prohibit the practice.
Despite these efforts to eliminate the practice, some states continue to see some agencies working around the laws prohibiting quotas.
Ticket quotas described as bad policy
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine acted earlier this year to sign into law a bill touted to discourage law enforcement agencies from pressuring officers to participate in ticket quotas.
Supporters said the new law provides law enforcement officers with needed discretion versus “an arbitrary quota system used to generate local revenue.”
Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Westlake, pointed out it has been legal in the state to mandate that a police officer issue a set number of tickets every day.
“This is bad for police and bad for our communities,” Sweeney said in prepared remarks.
She added that law enforcement officials should be evaluated based on their police work, not the quantity of tickets written.
Now in effect
Effective Tuesday, Sept. 30, the new law outlaws the new mandate. It establishes that no requirement or suggestion could be made for an officer to meet a quota. Nor could a benefit be offered to an officer based on the officer’s quota.
The new law defines a ticket quota as “a mandate of a certain number of arrests made, or citations issued, for any offense that a local or state police officer must meet in a specified time period.”
Law enforcement agencies are prohibited from using quotas to evaluate, promote, compensate, transfer or discipline a local or state police officer. Agencies are also forbidden from offering a financial reward or other benefits to officers for meeting quotas.
Law enforcement officials or agencies, however, are permitted to collect and analyze data on the number of arrests made and citations issued by officers. The information is touted to help ensure officers do not neglect their duties or violate legal obligations.
The new law also requires the state’s attorney general to make available a form for officers to use to report the expectation of meeting quotas. An option is available for officers to anonymously make the report.
The attorney general is mandated to investigate quota allegations.
If a determination is made that ticket quotas were used by an agency, the attorney general’s office would be required to order the official or agency to cease and desist quota requirements.
Officials back rule change
Ohio lawmakers heard from officials this year about the need to address the issue.
Robert Butler is president of the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police and is the Independence, Ohio, police chief. He told a House committee that quotas undermine the very foundation of his profession.
“They erode public trust by creating an environment where officers are pressured to issue citations or make arrests not based on the merits of each situation, but to meet arbitrary numbers,” Butler stated.
Carolyn Brakey is a Geauga County commissioner. She told lawmakers that when enforcement decisions put revenue targets over public safety, the entire moral basis for law enforcement is compromised.
“Quotas invert the purpose of policing,” Brakey said. “They turn a protective function into a predatory one.”
Brakey and others said the new law restores balance. LL
More Land Line coverage of Ohio news is available.
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