A Fort Lauderdale police officer who alleges the department has a quota system rewarding officers for making arrests filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the city late Monday.
Michael Hennessy, 52, is seeking back pay and the reinstatement of benefits he lost as a result of not reaching his ''performance standards,'' including no take-home car, overtime or off-duty details.
The lawsuit filed in Broward Circuit Court claims that two shift captains created a scheme to inflate arrest statistics -- often by arresting the homeless on misdemeanors -- and rewarded high-producing officers with off-the-books, paid days off.
The accusations were reported Monday by The Miami Herald.
William Amlong, an attorney representing Hennessy, said the quota system is dangerous.
''It's really making the community less safe because it is taking police officers away from their jobs on patrol,'' he said. ``This is both invading the rights of the homeless, who should not be victimized, and wasting taxpayer money.''
Fort Lauderdale police launched an investigation in July to look into Hennessy's claims after he filed a complaint to administrators.
The city is conducting a separate investigation.
Neither a department nor city spokesman would comment on the lawsuit Monday.
Hennessy, a patrol officer for nearly 23 years, claims that he was reprimanded in August for failing to meet his quotas -- one ticket per day and one arrest per month. He said a supervisor banned him from taking home his squad car and working overtime and off-duty details -- and threatened to fire him ''for having low statistics,'' the suit said.
Hennessy contends that over the past year, supervisors in the north district -- which includes parts of the beach, businesses along Federal Highway and the executive airport -- have implemented schemes to boost arrest and ticket numbers.
Among them: A ''scavenger hunt'' to see which officer could make the most arrests in and around Holiday Park, an area frequented by the homeless. The winning officer was rewarded with a $50 gift certificate to the movies, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit also claims that a point system was created to entice officers to increase productivity.
An officer earned 10 points for an arrest, five for issuing a notice to appear, three for filling out a field interrogation card and one for writing a ticket. Earn 70 points in one week and get a day off, unapproved by the city.
Hennessy said officers who took the time off were marked on schedules as being on-duty, but unavailable for service. Other officers were called in to replace them, potentially costing the city more than $460 in overtime pay per person, the lawsuit states.
Hennessy hopes the legal action brings about change.
''It's fraud. It's theft,'' Hennessy said. ``It needs to stop.''
Showing posts with label ticket quota. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ticket quota. Show all posts
Monday, October 27, 2008
Friday, March 07, 2008
Cops warned to give more traffic tickets
Ocean Township, New Jersey file complaint against departmental demands that they achieve numeric traffic ticket goals.
Ocean Township, New Jersey police officers pressured by supervisors to achieve a specific traffic ticket quotas filed a grievance last week against their own department. With the support of their local police union, Patrolmen Les Laffan and Doug Willms suggested that negative performance reports placed in their personnel files may run afoul of a state law prohibiting numeric ticket quotas. The reports specified the exact number of tickets all officers must write or face disciplinary action including the loss of opportunities to earn overtime pay.
"Your motor vehicle enforcement must improve by April 1st to a rate that would have you meet the standard of ten summons(es) a month or your participation in voluntary duties with this department will be suspended and departmental charges will be considered," the reports stated.
The Police Chief Antonio V. Amodio Jr. defended the practice to the the Asbury Park Press newspaper and maintained his department has no quotas.
"Everything from parking violations on up, these officers were only writing an average of 3 and a half summonses per month, 40-some summonses per year, which we felt was completely unacceptable," Amodio told the Press. "The standard -- and I specify standard; it's not a quota -- the standard currently being used in the department is 120 summonses per year."
Ocean Township officials have been concerned about a seven percent drop in revenue from traffic tickets last year. In 2006, it raised $744,303 from citations but only $687,063 last year. The focus on increasing the number of traffic tickets has not resulted in any corresponding decrease in the number of accidents over the past seven years.
"When they start to mandate the high number of production to offset other revenue... that raises serious questions about which roads are toll roads and which are not," New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association spokesman Jim Ryan told the Press.
Source: http://app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080302/NEWS/80302003 (Asbury Park Press (NJ), 3/2/2008)
Kudos to these officers, they need to cease all these needless stops and focus more on violent crimes. Those in charge need to stop relying on money from traffic stops and instead seek revenue from other sources.
Ocean Township, New Jersey police officers pressured by supervisors to achieve a specific traffic ticket quotas filed a grievance last week against their own department. With the support of their local police union, Patrolmen Les Laffan and Doug Willms suggested that negative performance reports placed in their personnel files may run afoul of a state law prohibiting numeric ticket quotas. The reports specified the exact number of tickets all officers must write or face disciplinary action including the loss of opportunities to earn overtime pay.
"Your motor vehicle enforcement must improve by April 1st to a rate that would have you meet the standard of ten summons(es) a month or your participation in voluntary duties with this department will be suspended and departmental charges will be considered," the reports stated.
The Police Chief Antonio V. Amodio Jr. defended the practice to the the Asbury Park Press newspaper and maintained his department has no quotas.
"Everything from parking violations on up, these officers were only writing an average of 3 and a half summonses per month, 40-some summonses per year, which we felt was completely unacceptable," Amodio told the Press. "The standard -- and I specify standard; it's not a quota -- the standard currently being used in the department is 120 summonses per year."
Ocean Township officials have been concerned about a seven percent drop in revenue from traffic tickets last year. In 2006, it raised $744,303 from citations but only $687,063 last year. The focus on increasing the number of traffic tickets has not resulted in any corresponding decrease in the number of accidents over the past seven years.
"When they start to mandate the high number of production to offset other revenue... that raises serious questions about which roads are toll roads and which are not," New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association spokesman Jim Ryan told the Press.
Source: http://app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080302/NEWS/80302003 (Asbury Park Press (NJ), 3/2/2008)
Kudos to these officers, they need to cease all these needless stops and focus more on violent crimes. Those in charge need to stop relying on money from traffic stops and instead seek revenue from other sources.
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