For a long time as a Lake and Porter County traffic ticket attorney, I have wondered whether traffic ticket quotas are a myth or reality. The common knowledge among people has always been that police regularly employ traffic ticket quotas and that their promotions are solely based on the number of Lake County traffic tickets or Porter County traffic tickets that each officer writes. I often brushed off the idea of the police employing quotas as ridiculous. Then I was reminded recently that this may in fact be an actual issue.
Are Traffic Ticket Quotas Real!?
What reminded me of traffic ticket quotas is that the Illinois General Assembly recently passed a law prohibiting the use of these quotas, either as mandatory or as promotional criteria. Read the full story here: “New Law Bans Police Use of Ticket Quotas”, Chicago Tribune, June 16, 2014.
This piqued my curiosity on the issue, and so I conducted a thorough review of police department sites for cities and towns in Indiana, and found that of the departments that comment at all on the issues of quotas, each vehemently denies employing traffic ticket quotas. (See, for example, FAQ – Town of Zionsville, Indiana).
Over the past several years, however, the Chicago and Indianapolis media has caught on to more than one indication that such traffic ticket quotas may be being employed for retaining, promoting, and/or disciplining police officers. (See, “Status Quota” – 13 WTHR Indianapolis – WTHR.com”, Gary Police Impose Traffic Ticket Quota – CBS Chicago, May 31, 2011; Gary police traffic ticket quota blasted – Post-Tribune, May 28, 2011; Indiana City Introduces Ticket Quotas – TheNewspaper.Com, June 3, 2008)
Get Help Fighting Your Traffic Tickets in Lake and Porter County, Indiana
Whatever the truth is, it seems that Indiana police departments will refuse to acknowledge employing such methods for fear of inviting challenges and inviting lawsuits to be filed against them. In any case, if this is in fact a problem, it will take an experienced and zealous traffic ticket lawyer in Indiana to get it done.
The experienced Lake County and Porter County traffic ticket lawyers of SFT Lawyers can assist you! CALL (219) 841-5683 for a FREE CONSULTATION TODAY!