A police memo published by the Daily News shows unequivocal evidence that the New York City Police Department uses traffic ticket quotas. This memo was reportedly posted in the roll call room of the 77th precinct and advised officers how many traffic tickets and the type required.
Interestingly, cell phones tickets and seat belt tickets were, by far, the largest portion of the quota. Neither of these tickets carry points and present a much lower safety hazard than, for example, disobeying a red light or speeding.
This is not the first time that the NYPD has been caught imposing quotes. Earlier this year, a whistleblower cop recorded a supervisor in the 81st Precinct vowing to go after officers who don’t make at least one arrest a month.
State law prohibits police from using quotas – or setting a target number for arrests or summonses during a specific time frame. The practice is illegal because it places pressure on police officers to issue traffic tickets (even when a violation may not have occurred) and removes their discretion. The NYPD has denied this practice for years despite evidence to the contrary.
I personally know an NYPD Captain of the Queens Borough Patrol Unit and he himself has indirectly admitted to me that quotas exist because the police department is just another revenue generation machine for the city. Yes, quotas are illegal, but they exist and nobody is there to stop it from happening, and not even internal affairs enforces this illegal practice. I’m not knocking on cops, but they’re all in on it and not doing a single thing to stop it because many of their promotions depend on fulfilling these quotas.
Matt,
Great post, as usual. Mayor Bloomberg conducts NYC business as the business wunderkind he is…Goals, rewards and consequences. Problem is he seems to be ignoring his corporate charter, the Constitution.
I didn’t realize NY State law specifically prohibits quotas. Thanks for the heads-up.
Larry,
I am not sure if we can pin this on Mayor Bloomberg but is certainly is an on-going issue with the NYPD.
Do officers recieve commission or bonus for achieving quotas?
No but they get to avoid reprimand, bad assignments and other punishments meted out to those that don’t meet their quotas.
Receiving a ticket is justifiable when you are actually breaking the law, but there have also been cases when traffic cops have been unjustly issuing tickets. This might be due to the added pressure of meeting quotas. Quotas usually aren’t a problem; except they are ILLEGAL for law enforcement.
Traffic Injustice: Quotas can be a problem when it encourages police officers to write questionable tickets in lieu of coming up short.