Police quotas for ticket writing

[SuperKat 0]

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How bout all the cops I'm behind that whip in and out of traffic, speed, no turn signals etc. Who polices them?

I can't speak for other states or cities but we have an inspections unit and an integrity control officer that specifically monitors these types of things. Trust me, we have police that police us. They have very little tolerance and they're not our friend either. They have a job to do too.

What's the most you ever lost in a coin toss, Friendo?

[Kennedy 0]

I just wish people would realize that:

(A) DPD is looking to meaure officers in their TRAFFIC UNIT, so traffic charges is just about the only way to check up on officers short of riding next to them all day long.
[unless of course the whiners would prefer less supervision or a lot of wasted man hours, it's not going to happen]

(B) DPD is measuring charges, not the number of stops wher tickets were issued. I know one officer who wrote 13 charges (that's eight citations if you're counting paper instead of charges) for three people in one stop. The stop included open container, insurance, registration expired, driving while license revoked, no seat belt, tail light out, license plate light out, not seat belt times three people, and more.

And you know what, before you bitch about heavy handed enforcement, know two things. First, two out of these three people went to jail on warrants for violent crime, and second they were foud to be suspects in a recent robbery/shooting.

So who still wants to piss and moan about traffic enforcement? Would you prefer there not be any traffic enforcement, and htat cops let any asshole on the street do anything he wants?

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
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[Kennedy 0]

I just loved these quotes from the story.

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"They're making sure they're making money and that's not right," driver Dan Blanchard said. "They are going to pull people over for doing ten over, five over, whatever it is. That's not right."

So apparently he wants officers not to enforce the law. Or is five and ten over the limit not really over the limit? If you've got a problem with the speed limit, complain to the people who set the limit, not the people who enforce it.

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"I guess it forces them to, you know, maybe someone that they wouldn't pull over before they would consider pulling over now because they need to meet their quota," driver Stephen Gulau said. "It's not giving someone a ticket because they broke the law; it's giving someone a ticket because they are supposed to give someone a ticket."

Well, if you think they wrote you a ticket and you didn't break the law, take it to court. If you're just complaining because they're actually enforcing the law, the go pis into the wind somewhere else, like near the peole woh make the law.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[SuperKat 0]

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And you know what, before you bitch about heavy handed enforcement, know two things. First, two out of these three people went to jail on warrants for violent crime, and second they were foud to be suspects in a recent robbery/shooting.

You know this is very true. I've stopped one guy for wreckless driving, speeding, no signaling, tinted windows, didn't pull over for 4 blocks, etc. He was wanted on a warrant for beating up a trial witness and bail jumping. Basically, he was a fugitive. I wouldn't have caught him if it weren't for a traffic stop and having the intention to write him a summons.

What's the most you ever lost in a coin toss, Friendo?

[JohnnyD 0]

Kennedy -
I'm actually really glad some actual cops got .02 on this. What really surprised me about the article wasn't that there is an actual quota, but the admission of it. I've never heard anything but complete denial of true quotas until this article. IMO, the admission is damaging to DPD's image among the public. The public will now believe they are just being pulled over to fill the officer's quota and the inevitable will follow - isn't there an actual crime being committed somewhere? Here in Denver, the public trust in DPD is very low. This is absolutely not going to help. IMO, even if they have a quota, they shouldn't admit it.

[Kennedy 0]

Nobody admitted anything, and there is nothing to admit.

Some ignorant reporter put the headline calling it a quota, and then got some quotes from ignorant drivers being pissed about quotas.

Take note, the DPD officer interviewed specifically stated that there is no quota. A quota implies a number that an officer must write. What is happening is that officers who job it is to enforce trffic violations are having their performance evaluated. Traffic enforcement is a special unit, and in order to work that unit you have to be good at enforcing traffic law. The way to check how well someone is doing is to check his enforcement. If he's not doing well, he'll get talked to. No one is telling this special unit to write tickets or else. And certainly no one is tellling the department at large to write more tickets.

You just need to double check what the reporter is saying versus what is actually happening (which it seems we need to do on every story, but that's another issue entirely).

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*