Two cops sue LAPD over illegal ticket quotas

[BNR32_Coupe]

Progress on its way.

Two cops sue the LAPD for forcing them to write 18 tickets a day. The judge ruled in favor of the two officers and awarded them a settlement of 2 million dollars.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr...uotas-20110412

“These kind of quotas undermine the confidence of citizens in the Los Angeles Police Department,” said the lawyer for one of two LAPD traffic officers who just won a $2 million settlement after being ordered to write a minimum of 18 major moving violation tickets per-day. Their victory could put an end to riders and drivers being illegally fleeced in the city and will hopefully inspire police officers nationwide to stand up against a style of law enforcement that’s become about making money, not saving lives.

Not that we have ticket quotas in BC but just the concept of two officers standing up for ethical practices is a good reminder that not every cop is a complete asshole.

[bcrdukes]

Interesting article.

Having spent a lot of time in SoCal, cops there definitely are not lenient when it comes to tickets. No verbal nor written warnings - straight up heavy fines.

[Jgresch]

Originally Posted by BNR32_Coupe

Not that we have ticket quotas in BC but just the concept of two officers standing up for ethical practices is a good reminder that not every cop is a complete asshole.

[Sky_2000]

Pretty sure the VPD has a ticket quota that isn't publicly discussed about.

[MindBomber]

I don't understand why people are so offended my ticket quotas, the vast majority of the time if you receive a ticket it's because you've knowingly done something illegal.

Our taxes pay for police to be on the street monitoring citizens and ensuring they obey the law. A ticket quota ensures that while the officers are on duty they pay attention and give tickets when they see violations, instead of just chilling out in their cruisers and letting people committing violations drive by because they're "not ass holes".

[urrh]

Originally Posted by MindBomber

I don't understand why people are so offended my ticket quotas, the vast majority of the time if you receive a ticket it's because you've knowingly done something illegal.

because there are many seemingly arbitrary laws not designed for public safety. like the seat belt law, no one else is going to get hurt if i don't wear it. same with the helmet law for bicycles. now i'm not saying you should be driving around with no seatbelt, but as an adult, decisions for personal safety should be up to me.

[BNR32_Coupe]

Originally Posted by MindBomber

I don't understand why people are so offended my ticket quotas, the vast majority of the time if you receive a ticket it's because you've knowingly done something illegal.

Our taxes pay for police to be on the street monitoring citizens and ensuring they obey the law. A ticket quota ensures that while the officers are on duty they pay attention and give tickets when they see violations, instead of just chilling out in their cruisers and letting people committing violations drive by because they're "not ass holes".

when we get a ticket, where does the money go? not a rhetorical question, unlike the rest of revscene i was born and raised in a cave.

i thought the money from tickets is allocated to the traffic authority departments overhead. labour cost for officers holding the radar gun, cost of equipment itself, wages for traffic authority-specific cops, wage allocation for when a cop has to step aside from patrolling to catch the speeder

in terms of actual law enforcement, i thought our taxes went into supporting the system that kept cops on the road which prevents people from going ballistic on your house and taking all your stuff and raping your family.

tl;dunderstand tax money goes into things you can't write a ticket for

[vafanculo]

Originally Posted by urrh

because there are many seemingly arbitrary laws not designed for public safety. like the seat belt law, no one else is going to get hurt if i don't wear it. same with the helmet law for bicycles. now i'm not saying you should be driving around with no seatbelt, but as an adult, decisions for personal safety should be up to me.

Well, if there were no seat belt laws, and you got into an accident that wasn't your fault, and got badly mangled up.. Can you imagine the lawsuit against icbc and the other party?

Probably not the best example to justify a seatbelt law, but it'l do at this moment
Posted via RS Mobile

[seakrait]

Originally Posted by BNR32_Coupe

when we get a ticket, where does the money go? not a rhetorical question, unlike the rest of revscene i was born and raised in a cave.

i thought the money from tickets is allocated to the traffic authority departments overhead. labour cost for officers holding the radar gun, cost of equipment itself, wages for traffic authority-specific cops, wage allocation for when a cop has to step aside from patrolling to catch the speeder

in terms of actual law enforcement, i thought our taxes went into supporting the system that kept cops on the road which prevents people from going ballistic on your house and taking all your stuff and raping your family.

tl;dunderstand tax money goes into things you can't write a ticket for

not quite. money you pay for tickets goes to the bc government (ICBC collects money from violation tickets on behalf of the bc government). you don't pay the VPD, RCMP, etc directly. the government then redistributes the collected money... it's not like the cops NEED the ticket money directly to pay their own salaries. Cops here in the GVRD, say the VPD, get paid by the City of Vancouver, etc. Unless you got written a COV bylaw ticket, no money from the ticket directly goes to the city.

for example, in california (couldn't find anything quickly for BC):

Effective 01/01/2009: Total fines for traffic violations may be calculated as follows:

Base Fine set by legislation and the Judicial Council of California.
Penalty Assessment: Penalty assessments are allocated for such items as court and jail facility construction and other items as noted below:
$10.00 per $10/base fine per PC 1464 goes 70% to State Trial Court Trust Fund; 30% to County General Fund
$2.00 per $10/base fine per GC 76100 goes to the County Courthouse Construction Fund
$2.50 per $10/base fine per GC 76101 goes to the County Jail Construction Fund
$0.50 per $10/base fine per GC 76102 goes to County Automated Fingerprint Fund
$2.00 per $10/base fine per GC 76104 goes to Maddy Emergency Medical Fund (State/County split)
$3.00 per $10/base fine per GC 70372.(a) goes to State Court Facilities Construction Fund
$1.00 per $10/base fine per GC 76104.6 goes to the DNA Identification Fund (County/State split)
$1.00 per $10/base fine per GC 76104.7 goes to the DNA Identification Fund (County/State split)
$2.00 per $10/base fine per GC 70372(a) goes to the State Court Facilities Construction Fund - Immediate and Critical Needs Account
Night Court Assessment Fee pursuant to VC 42006
DMV record fee pursuant to Vehicle Code 40508.6
Twenty percent criminal surcharge pursuant to Penal Code 1465.7
Court Security Fee pursuant to Penal Code 1465.8
Criminal Conviction Assessment pursuant to GC 70373 goes to the State Court Facilities Construction Fund - Immediate and Critical Needs Account (assessed per conviction)

[rsx]

Originally Posted by urrh

because there are many seemingly arbitrary laws not designed for public safety. like the seat belt law, no one else is going to get hurt if i don't wear it. same with the helmet law for bicycles. now i'm not saying you should be driving around with no seatbelt, but as an adult, decisions for personal safety should be up to me.

We could care less about you getting torn up, but the fire crews, ambulance and extra resources diverted to your distress call will cost tax payers...we're paying for your ass to get saved.

[geeknerd]

Originally Posted by BNR32_Coupe

Not that we have ticket quotas in BC but just the concept of two officers standing up for ethical practices is a good reminder that not every cop is a complete asshole.

They dont have quotas in LA(article origin) either. its illegal; but it was still being 'enforced'. The exact same thing can be happening in bc. who knows.

and i doubt they sued for the drivers/ethics. it not like cops are fucking dumb and didnt know that quotas are illegal in their state.

they did it because it threatened their job

[MindBomber]

The idea that wearing your seat belt should be optional is truly idiotic, seat belts play a huge role in saving lives and preventing serious injury, but that's beside the point.

The issue you have isn't with enforcement, which is what a ticket quota is, the issue you have is with laws that you feel are arbitrary. Are you suggesting that officers on the street pick and choose what laws they should enforce based on their own common sense?

Originally Posted by urrh

because there are many seemingly arbitrary laws not designed for public safety. like the seat belt law, no one else is going to get hurt if i don't wear it. same with the helmet law for bicycles. now i'm not saying you should be driving around with no seatbelt, but as an adult, decisions for personal safety should be up to me.

[!SG]

interesting read.

ive met plenty of great cops while with RS. plenty of which i would stand on side with their opinions on matters without a 2nd thought, especially now a bit older and hopefully a bit wiser, however, ive also met some which i would question their intent on being in law enforcement. End of the day, they are ppl, no different than the vast differences in ppl i meet everyday.

either way, interesting read....

[Nocardia]

Originally Posted by urrh

because there are many seemingly arbitrary laws not designed for public safety. like the seat belt law, no one else is going to get hurt if i don't wear it. same with the helmet law for bicycles. now i'm not saying you should be driving around with no seatbelt, but as an adult, decisions for personal safety should be up to me.

Whoa really? You can't be serious.

So after an accident, does the nurse/doctor in the hospital who has to fix you up because you didn't wear a seatbelt have the option to treat/not treat you based on their personal safety (what if you have HIV or a multitude of other diseases, do they wait to find out first or help immediately)? What about the 9 year old on the street who was the first to find your leg before he found the rest of your body so the ambulance can take both pieces?

Public safety is personal safety for those who should have been weeded out by natural selection before they hit 16.

[flagella]

settlement of 2 million dollars wtf...

[CanadaGoose]

Good job, finally someone with power spoke up

A quota that high is ridiculous, it's nothing more then a fucking shakedown

[s300ae]

how come existing or retired local cops have not commented on this yet?? hmm

[TheKingdom2000]

Originally Posted by BNR32_Coupe

Progress on its way.

Two cops sue the LAPD for forcing them to write 18 tickets a day. The judge ruled in favor of the two officers and awarded them a settlement of 2 million dollars.

Not that we have ticket quotas in BC but just the concept of two officers standing up for ethical practices is a good reminder that not every cop is a complete asshole.

I don't know if ethical practices is the only issue.. I would say the two million in cash monies is a significant reason as well.

Though, i'm glad these two officers stepped up. Surely, they will be persecuted by their peers for being bitches or rats etc... but, why were they given $2 million?

[TheKingdom2000]

Originally Posted by Nocardia

Whoa really? You can't be serious.

So after an accident, does the nurse/doctor in the hospital who has to fix you up because you didn't wear a seatbelt have the option to treat/not treat you based on their personal safety (what if you have HIV or a multitude of other diseases, do they wait to find out first or help immediately)? What about the 9 year old on the street who was the first to find your leg before he found the rest of your body so the ambulance can take both pieces?

Public safety is personal safety for those who should have been weeded out by natural selection before they hit 16.

Your argument has NOTHING to do with urrh's argument?

He's saying what does wearing a seat belt have to do with public safety? This is independent of doctors. Doctors like men/woman in the milatary waive their personal safety to help others. That is totally different than a civilian.

[GabAlmighty]

Oh and having talked to a coworker who's friend is a cop, they do have quotas. And yes, they will still take naps in the cruiser in an empty parking lot on a slow night.

Originally Posted by flagella

settlement of 2 million dollars wtf...

What? You expect them to be keeping their jobs after this? HAHAHAH, the ignorance...

[2 n r]

Originally Posted by urrh

because there are many seemingly arbitrary laws not designed for public safety. like the seat belt law, no one else is going to get hurt if i don't wear it. same with the helmet law for bicycles. now i'm not saying you should be driving around with no seatbelt, but as an adult, decisions for personal safety should be up to me.

youre right, no one else gets hurt BUT it's the publics tax dollars that is spent went someones mangled ass is in the hospital bed for x amount of time

[johny]

Originally Posted by urrh

because there are many seemingly arbitrary laws not designed for public safety. like the seat belt law, no one else is going to get hurt if i don't wear it. same with the helmet law for bicycles. now i'm not saying you should be driving around with no seatbelt, but as an adult, decisions for personal safety should be up to me.

and when you crash with no seltbelt and end up in the hospital with major injury who's paying for it? me the tax payer.

unless you want to waive your right to governemt medical care then safety can't always be up to you.

[geeknerd]

Originally Posted by mx703

Your argument has NOTHING to do with urrh's argument?

He's saying what does wearing a seat belt have to do with public safety? This is independent of doctors. Doctors like men/woman in the milatary waive their personal safety to help others. That is totally different than a civilian.

if you are going fast enough and crash without a seatbelt, your body can actually be a lethal projectile.