No Surprise Here: Police Supervisor Demanded Officers Meet Ticket Quotas
Approaching a meter that still has a minute or two left on it to find a cop already teeing up a ticket on his hand-held device is one of the most infuriating experiences one can have living in this city. And though the NYPD has long denied that quotas are driving this kind of behavior…
Approaching a meter that still has a minute or two left on it to find a cop already teeing up a ticket on his hand-held device is one of the most infuriating experiences one can have living in this city. And though the NYPD has long denied that quotas are driving this kind of behavior that undermines the generally law-abiding citizens’ trust in the men and women charged with protecting them, an audiotape of an 81st Precinct meeting now confirms the quotas are true. Read more at the New York Times.
I was a cop for 24 years in NYPD, we had a quota, if you were on patrol you had to write 20 parkers and 5 movers a month. If you are a browny/traffic cop Im sure they have daily quota’s. They can’t walk around all day and do nothing. City is in business to make money, they should write more littering tickets.
Last month was the twenty-seventh anniversary of getting my driver’s license. In those twenty-seven years I have had one parking ticket and two speeding tickets. I am just too much of a skin flint to pay the fines so I make sure I drive legally (which is usually safest) and park legally. I would rather pay $20 to put my car in a parking garage than $150 for a fine. I also paid to buy a parking space at my condo, so I don’t have to fight for street parking or deal with the alternate side parking craziness.
Double parking causes congestion, making it difficult for cars to move efficiently through the city. It increases pollution, both due to the idling double parkers and the slow down in traffic. It creates dangerous situations when frustrated drivers try to get around the double parked car. One solution is to convert the major avenues to loading-zone/10 minute parking only. Drivers who need to stop at a coffee shop can pull around the corner to a side street and double park there. It’s crazy for us to give free parking next to the curb, and then more free parking next to the cars next to the curb.
Regular cops shouldn’t be giving parking tickets- THAT’S WHAT WE PAY TRAFFIC COPS TO DO!!!!!!!!!!!
A regular cop should still pull people over for driving while using cell phones, speeding, running red lights and other Dangerous things. They should not be wasting their special crime fighting powers on alternate side parking/double parking/bus stop tickets- This is what the lazy cops want to do.
Personally I think they should have to pass a physical and psychological exam once a year. Why should our taxes pay for cops to get fat, or have Power Trips. They’re in a position where they can lock you up against your will- they should be of sound mind.
If he were hectoring cops to get out of their cars and do real investigations and address real crimes, that’s not a problem. But that’s not what this drive to crack down on minor offenses is.
The problem is when policing is diverted from addressing violent crime or responding to drug trafficking to nitpicking often arbitrary low level violations. The problem is when the focus shifts from making us safer to being revenue generating. The problem is when summons and arrests for low level crimes end up targeting those with the least power in society. The problem is when the nature of these interactions make average citizens less likely to cooperate with the police in serious matters and less likely to listen to police witnesses when they are testifying about a murder or an assault. The problem is that a summons for a stupid thing (such as riding your bike on the sidewalk) can be compounded when someone does another stupid thing (like ignores it) resulting a two nights in jail for a father on his way to work or a student off to take her Regents.
I understand that we all have this vision that this means so hot shot in the SUV getting a ticket for talking to his broker on the phone, but every study shows that the powerful don’t get targeted. Sure we can have a zero tolerance state, if we want, but we won’t be safer or be more civil.
I don’t understand why we’re supposed to be outraged. It sounds like this chief wasn’t setting crazy quotas that were pushing cops to create speed traps, or to do something wrong like entrapment–it sounded like he was cracking down on lazy cops! Which is his JOB, as a supervisor.
I thought they totally buried the lede, here. I was really heartened when he was like “get out of your patrol cars” and he said “people think we’re dirty cops when they call about drug houses and we don’t do anything about it.” Am I supposed to be ticked off that he’s reading his cops the riot act for failing to be responsive to the neighborhood and stopping crime? Seriously?
I drive in the city, and when I drive or park illegally, I deserve to get a ticket. I think quotas are a problem if they’re pressuring cops to invent crimes, but if they’re forcing cops to crack down on crimes? What’s the freaking problem here?
how about dod-poop scofflaws? Plenty of violaters where I live.
I was shocked how low the quotas were (as gleamed from those Village Voice transcripts.) I think I could wrap up a month’s quotas of tickets, arrests, etc. in one afternoon on Fulton or Myrtle.
Cell phone and texting should go right to jail for 24 hours.
This is endangering peoples lives on the road, not an expired meter or a double parkied car.
I hate these people that text while driving, are they kidding me, how do you have the nerve to text while driving.
I hope everyone that text while driving gets into an accident and kills themselves.
I have zero tollerance for it, there is no reason on the face of this planet that someone has to send a text message while driving.