Officers sue LAPD over being forced to meet speeding ticket quotas
Ever feel like you were unjustly stopped by the police for speeding? Ever heard of particular “speed traps” where cops hand out to meet their monthly “quota” for issuing speeding tickets? Well, apparently in Los Angeles this is not fantasy. The Los Angeles Times reports that recently 10 police officers filed suit against their employer, the LAPD, claiming that they were retaliated against for refusing to meet so-called traffic ticket quotas. These quotas, as you might suspect involved a certain number of traffic tickets that each officer had to write each month. The suit claims that in return for their refusal to meet the quotas that the officers were denied overtime and other benefits as punishment. The officers also claim that they were given negative performance reviews for refusing to meet the ticket quotas.
As it turns out, the ticket quotas set by LAPD are illegal under state law. This seems like it would be obvious because the quotas might encourage or force officers to write tickets that were otherwise not warranted or unnecessary in order to meet the quota. The suit might be successful as two prior claims by police officers for the very same thing against the LAPD were tried to a jury verdict of $2 million. Unfortunately, it is not just these police officers who are suffering because of the illegal quota system that the LAPD has put in place. Part of the allegation in the suit is that officers were drawn from routine traffic patrols to specific spots to try and “nab” speeders. This practice might very well increase crime rates by pulling already scarce resources from the streets to focus their energy on the relatively minor offense of speeding.
Fortunately at this point, there is no evidence that this type of practice takes place within the Louisville Metro Police Department. They seem to have other problems with officers detaining innocent people who are accused of crimes they didn’t commit. Let’s hope that this never becomes a problem here.
By the way, if you do have an issue with an over-zealous police officer and need help with a traffic ticket or other criminal offense in Louisville, don’t hesitate to contact Brian D. Cook at Bahe Cook Cantley & Nefzger PLC for assistance.
