“So, Traffic Officers Do Have Quotas For Tickets?”

I was watching Breakfast Television this morning and they ran a story about how the traffic officers at 31 division was given a quota of writing atleast 25 traffic tickets per day (one book). I thought I heard wrong until I got to work (making sure I didn't drive 1km over 60 because i live in the area) and googled up the article on the toronto sun as well!!

Isn't this entrapment?

This can't be fair

It's not entrapment, since that's when police induce you to commit a crime.

Simon wrote a good post on his blog about quotas. There has always been an expectation that police need to account for their time. If an officer is busy with calls for service, court, etc., they might not write any tickets during their shift. If on the other hand they have lots of free time then there's an expectation that they'll probably conduct some traffic enforcement and write some tickets. It should never be an exact quota of X tickets per month, but officers need to show they're working when they're on the road. For some, especially traffic enforcement officers, tickets will be a big part of that measurement.

I'm thinking this Toronto Sergeant will likely retract her quota, but it doesn't mean there still won't be pressure for officers to write tickets.

LOL did I just read that?

As I don't agree with the quota concept and its weird how its being thrown out there by the media all the time, I think that if cops Don't have a Quota system they may not enforce the traffic laws diligently? Meaning could it be that its more meant to push them to work harder?

I think now more than ever its very easy to monitor police productivity with computer aided dispatch systems and GPS tracking. You can probably get a very good idea of what officers are doing with their time. Unfortunately I think ticket numbers still rule the day even though traffic safety can be achieved without always charging.

Here's an interesting article out of Winnipeg. The police were asked to generate an extra million in ticket revenue. Credit to the Chief for saying no, it's about safety not revenue.

The Winnipeg Police Service was asked to collect an extra $1 million worth of traffic fines this year, an amount Chief Keith McCaskill said Friday cant be achieved.

But no one at city hall will own up to who made the request.

(Chief) McCaskill said it isnt possible to generate $1 million in extra ticket revenue as part of a traffic-enforcement program designed to improve safety, and not merely generate money.

Here's my article: http://www.simonborys.ca/2010/04/do-pol ... f-tickets/