Ticket Quotas Represent Another "Selective Tax' On Communities

By Rep. Neil Hansen
December 3, 2007

The intent and purpose of this editorial is not to, in any way, shape or form, exploit the misinformation that has been reported about the issue of ticket quotas, and additionally, this editorial is not about being vindictive or in retaliation for lost elections as some have accused or insinuated. My desire is to truly represent people, which I believe comes through listening to the concerns and issues of the people and taking action in doing things “for” them and not “to” them. Representing constituents is my only priority and the issue of ticket quotas is one of those concerns that have come from people within our community.

In 2005, the issue of ticket quotas came up during a dispute with the Ogden City Administration and the Ogden City Police Association. During this dispute, a rental truck was parked on Harrison Blvd. that stated, “Welcome to Ogden, Home of Mayor Godfrey’s Ticket Quotas.” I received numerous calls from concerned citizens and police officers that thought ticket quotas were outlawed in the state of Utah. In researching this concern, I found that ticket quotas are not against the law in this state.

To date, most communities in Utah use specific criteria to evaluate the performance of their police officers. According to the performance criteria for police officers in Ogden City, one component of the evaluation is based on the number of citations written. An officer who “averages less than 3 non-parking citations per day” is rated at a Level 1 (low). An officer who “averages more than 8 citations per day, with 6 of the 8 being hazardous citations” can achieve a Level 5 (high) rating.

In 2007, I ran the legislation titled “Prohibition of Citation Quotas” and am running the bill again in the upcoming 2008 legislative session. For the record, this is not the first time this bill has been proposed. Representative Dave Ure, Republican from Summit County, ran HB 342 in the 2000 General Session, which passed out of committee with a vote of 5 to 4 with a favorable recommendation, but the bill was pulled under the promise that a certain jurisdiction would abolish their practice of ticket quotas. During the 2007 Legislative Session while my bill was on the calendar, former Representative Dave Ure said that he supported the legislation again because ticket quotas were still a statewide problem.

Simply stated, this legislation prohibits a law enforcement agency to require its officers to issue a specific number of citations, complaints, or warning notices within any specified time period. It will not prohibit any agency from enforcing the law. In my mind, this legislation will support law enforcement officers focusing on protecting our safety as opposed to meeting a quota for a performance evaluation.

In my opinion, if law enforcement agencies do not have a ticket quota in place, then this legislation will not have an impact on them, thus there is no need to worry about this legislation. However, some discussion has centered on the fact that law enforcement agencies are fearful of the amount of money their agencies will lose if this law is passed because if officers aren’t writing citations, less revenue is being generated and collected. I, myself, am quite concerned that another “selective tax” is being imposed on our communities in addition to the taxes already being collected to cover the public services we are receiving for our tax dollars.

Finally, in response to the guest editorial from the Roy City Police Chief, I agree with a lot of what he said, and applaud the efforts of the Roy City Police Department to ensure their officers are enforcing the law. I believe all law enforcement officers are “our finest” because of their dedication and loyalty to protect us from those who choose to commit crimes. I also commend them for their willingness to uphold and enforce the laws that the State Legislature diligently enact to preserve the health, safety and welfare of our communities.