Ticket policy changed

By Staff Reports

Last week's report on manpower needs at the Rock Hill Police Department supported Chief John Gregory's contention that more officers are needed. But the report also made public other aspects of the department's operation, including what amounted to a quota system for traffic tickets.

The report should prompt the city to hire more officers in the near future. But, thankfully, it already has prompted Gregory to make needed policy changes.

The study, conducted by the national consulting firm of Carroll Buracker & Associates, offered a glimpse behind the scenes at the police department. In confidential interviews, patrol officers complained of a perceived quota system that rewarded those who wrote the most traffic tickets.

The system worked by awarding gift certificates or bonuses to the officers with the "most activities" for each month. Activities could include arrests, warrants and warnings, but traffic tickets were considered the easiest way for officers to add to their numbers for the month.

The rise in the number of tickets -- 10,428 so far this year compared with 7,041 last year -- suggested that the incentives were encouraging more citations. Ticket totals also were higher on Wednesdays, when more traffic cops are on duty.

Consultants said officers told them that the pressure to write tickets was a point of contention within the department. Buracker said one officer told him that some officers would write a citation for eight miles above the speed limit to please supervisors.

Many drivers have long believed that police departments establish ticket quotas and that some towns set up speed traps to ensnare motorists and increase local revenues from fines. While some dismiss these tales as urban legends, the testimony of Rock Hill officers suggests that they were compelled to write more tickets.

Complaints also surfaced over a program that pressured officers to save gas while on patrol. Officers who used the most gas during patrol shifts would be placed on desk jobs for a period of time. That policy also was discontinued after the report by Buracker.

Chief Gregory said the department never had a quota system, but rewards led officers to act as though it did.

"It was a perception, not a real or intentional issue," Gregory said. "That's why it was discontinued."

We're not sure there is a difference between a "real" quota system and a "perceived" quota system if the effect is the same. If officers are given incentives to write more traffic citations, that's the equivalent of a quota system, and perhaps Gregory should have been aware of officers' discontent with that system before the study was launched.

But we're relieved that both the gift card program and the gas-saving policy have been discontinued. Neither was conducive to good police work.

Traffic tickets should result from police encountering offenders and using their own best judgment about whether to issue a citation. The department shouldn't be pressuring police arbitrarily to write more tickets.

Police also should be able to use as much gas as necessary to do their patrols effectively. If they are using more gas, that may mean they are covering more ground.

We're grateful this report brought these policies to light and helped put a stop to them.