Tennessee Highway Patrol Ticket Quota Uncovered

[proudNMAmember]

Friday, July 10, 2009
[replacer_a]
Tennessee Highway Patrol Ticket Quota UncoveredTennessee Highway Patrol (THP) troopers are punished for failing to issue a specific number of speeding tickets in at least one part of the state. Attorney Fletcher Long provided with a copy of what THP Sergeant Clifford M. Babits posted on the wall of the Troop C station in Robertson County.
"I can no longer justify fives on evaluations for troopers not producing activity," Babits wrote. "I require three things. 1. Answer the radio, 2. Work your crashes, and 3. WRITE TICKETS. I take some of the blame for not properly motivating ya'll in the area of activity. Overall activity last year (2008) was well below the district average... Because activity plays such a high part of an everyday road trooper's requirement, it is going to weigh heavy on yearly evaluation scores."
These scores, with 'five' being the highest rating, are key to winning promotions, extra pay and the most desirable types of assignments. According to the memo, scoring is based solely on the number of tickets issued, although other factors such as routinely failing to follow orders can result in a lowered score. Babits set six hundred tickets a year, or three tickets per day, as the bare minimum.
"Let me stress I am not putting a quota on anyone," Babits wrote. "I don't care if a trooper writes below the 600 mark, it is his or her evaluation score, not mine. If a trooper turns in 600 citations per year, his or her overall evaluation will not be above the average score of three... I must be able to justify giving a trooper a five. Low activity is a killer."
It takes 800 citations per year, or four tickets per day, to earn the top score. A rating of four is earned by writing 700 tickets per year or 3.5 per day. Those who fail to exceed the average score of three are punished by not being allowed to earn time-and-a-half pay on overtime assignments.
"Effective immediately, a trooper that does not produce above average activity (17.5 tickets per week) will not be able to work grant overtime in my county," Babits wrote.
Tennessee Highway Patrol officials deny any quota exists. Many state police forces use the average number of tickets written by troops or stations to WTVF-TV in the number of speeding tickets issued.
A copy of the memo is available in a 75k PDF file at the source link below.
Source: encourage a steady year-on-year increase (Tennessee Highway Patrol, 7/10/2009)

[Z1NONLY]

Busted! :d

[OldGoat]

Light is the best disinfectant

[Maestro]

By the way people, not sure about TN specially, but, no person can use this as reason to have a ticket dismissed, they can have ticket quote all they like and it does not affect the drivers ability to win a ticket. These is usually labor related laws, meaning that the police should not be measured on ticket quotes, if they do and loose their job they can win a wrongful termination case. Most likely, the reason this was made public is because exactly that happen.

Notice the language they use, it talks about being measured against the average. They are not saying you have to write 100 tickets you just have to write more than the average. It a legal way to say ticket quotas.

[Z1NONLY]

By the way people, not sure about TN specially, but, no person can use this as reason to have a ticket dismissed, they can have ticket quote all they like and it does not affect the drivers ability to win a ticket.

It could show a motive for impropriety.

If I could dig up a performance report for officer Bubba that showed he had to write more tickes or else, I might be able to show that his desire to keep his job drove him to do something dishonest.

If nothing else, I might be able to put a dent in the presumption that "an officer has no reason to lie."

[Stealth Stalker]

If nothing else, I might be able to put a dent in the presumption that "an officer has no reason to lie."

Not really. Do you think he has to lie to find three speeders in eight hours? You'd have to be asleep to find less.

[Z1NONLY]

If nothing else, I might be able to put a dent in the presumption that "an officer has no reason to lie."

Not really. Do you think he has to lie to find three speeders in eight hours? You'd have to be asleep to find less.

That's only if he spaces his monthly quota out over the whole month. If I could show he was way behind, and had to write a high number of tickes in a short period of time.....

[bockr]

If nothing else, I might be able to put a dent in the presumption that "an officer has no reason to lie."

Not really. Do you think he has to lie to find three speeders in eight hours? You'd have to be asleep to find less.

That's only if he spaces his monthly quota out over the whole month. If I could show he was way behind, and had to write a high number of tickes in a short period of time.....

He could just pull you over for going 1 or 2 over its hard to find someone not going over the PSL.

[KnightHawk]

This question was brought up in our class with LEO. You can look at it on both sides of the aisle.

1. Others may say it is mainly revenue making.

From LEO:
2. It protects citizens when criminals know that there is increase activity in a certain locality/town by LEO.
3. When there is very small or limited activity by LEO, local citizens complain that LEO's are not doing their job.
4. It gives some sense of security to local residents when they see them out there doing their job.

[Maestro]

Trust me, this has been fought in court, just because and officer wrote more tickets because of a quota, you can not prove this was the only reason you got the ticket, it does not prove you were not speeding that day, if the officer can not fully prove you were speeding and you add this quota on top of that then you could win. But if the officer can prove you were speeding the quota will not get you out of the ticket.