Police quota systems — real or myths?

Some motorists are convinced that they are more likely to get a ticket toward the end of the month because law enforcement officials have quotas they must meet.

The truth is that many police departments don’t set quotas, but some still have minimum standards to make sure that officers are doing their jobs. So is this a matter of semantics, a way to avoid the dreaded “quota” word?

The issue of quotas has come up locally in a recent lawsuit brought on behalf of a Florida driver against troopers at the Lehighton barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police.

Through his lawyer, Noah P. Reed claims that he was charged with driving under the influence and other infractions in 2015, but he was not given a field sobriety test, even though the trooper bringing the charge claims he performed one. The suit alleges that the charge was brought so a trooper could meet a monthly quota of 20 such arrests.

The lawsuit is alleged to be backed up by a police dashcam, which provided audio and video of part of the encounter between police and Reed. Reed’s lawyer, Matthew J. Rapa of Lehighton, reviewed a copy of the dashcam video, which led to the DUI charge being dropped this past June.

Reed did plead guilty to careless driving, although Rapa claims the trooper never saw him driving. The incident occurred while Reed’s vehicle was parked in a restaurant parking lot.

State police officials declined to comment on this case, because it is ongoing and in litigation, but, in the past, officials insist that the state police do not use a quota system because it is illegal.

Most motorists are startled to hear this, unaware that a law was passed in 1981 banning the practice of using quotas to determine an officer’s productivity, proficiency or competency.

The state law, which is quite specific, says: “No political subdivision or agency of the commonwealth shall have the power or authority to order, mandate, require or in any other manner, directly or indirectly, suggest to any police officer, state police officer, game commission officer, fish commission officer or any other officer employed by such political subdivision or agency of the commonwealth that he or she shall issue a certain number of traffic citations, tickets or any other type of citation on any daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly basis.” If they do, the law says, “Any tickets or citations issued in violation of this act shall be unenforceable, null and void.”

According to criminal justice experts, “quota” is a dirty word in law enforcement circles. Instead of using the “q” word, officials now call it a “minimum performance standard,” which varies from department to department.

During an investigation, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the number of tickets troopers must write is known as the “station average.” If a trooper logs fewer tickets than the “station average,” he or she can be disciplined or lose out on overtime.

I asked three of my trooper friends about quotas. When I said the word, it was as if I had uttered the name of a deadly disease. Their demeanor changed, and I could see terror in their eyes.

“Are you nuts? Do you want me to get fired asking me a question like that?” one said. None would answer the question, and all begged me to change the subject. “Please don’t ever ask me that question again,” another scolded me.

There are plenty of pros and cons to go around on the issue of quotas. Some police officials find it to be a valuable measuring stick to ensure that troopers and officers are doing their jobs and meeting certain minimum productivity standards.

Others, however, see it as a possible area of abuse, as claimed in the Lehighton lawsuit. Additionally, police officers who have worked under a quota system warn that the emphasis on numbers forces them to focus on going after “easy” stops, meaning that more dangerous drivers, the ones who are more difficult to apprehend, get away.

In other words, they say, quotas, rather than public safety, become the tail that wags the dog. We believe that quotas or any other terms that act like quotas have no business in law enforcement.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com