(WXYZ) — Police say traffic tickets can serve as powerful safety tools to get drivers to slow down and follow the traffic laws. But officers say forcing them to write a certain number of tickets is not only illegal, it’s bad for the community. And that’s exactly why one local officer says he decided to blow the whistle on his own department.
“This is my second time being pulled over,” said Arnetta Brown.
Brown says she only recently moved to Lincoln Park and already she’s been stopped for traffic violations twice.
“I got a ticket the first time,” said Brown.
The second time she got a warning, but Brown says she’s still frustrated. And she got mad when we told her that Lincoln Park’s officers say that up until recently, they have had a ticket quota.
Ticket quotas are not allowed under Michigan law.
“I don't like that. That doesn't seem right. That's not what I'm paying my tax dollars for,” said Brown. “If you know someone is making a mistake or it’s a teachable moment, that's what the police should be here for. They shouldn't be here trying to meet a quota to write tickets for the public. You're here to help the public!”
Lincoln Park Police Officer Kyle Paryaski agrees.
“I would describe it as a big disservice to the community,” said Paryaski.
That’s why Paryaski says he wanted to blow the whistle on that department rule that he says was preventing he and his fellow officers from focusing on catching criminals.
“The focus should be on serving the community, and it should be focused on the problematic areas of the city,” said Paryaski.
Paryaski says the problem stems from a policy from 2007. Lincoln Park Police General Order #68 states that in order for officers to be eligible to work two of the department’s overtime programs, officers must average “one hazardous action violation issued for each day worked…”
“By definition it's a quota because it's a predetermined set amount of tickets that you're supposed to write,” said Paryaski.
Ticket quotas have been illegal in Michigan since 2010. In fact, the Lincoln Park Police manual even states: “This department does not establish ticket quotas.”
“It's having officers take attention away from things they should be paying attention to — calls for emergency or problematic areas. And we're focusing on just getting a number. And it's not right,” said Paryaski.
Officer Paryaski says he’d had enough of the quota when his entire shift was told they didn’t qualify for the overtime details in May.
“How did your shift react when everyone was told they didn't write enough tickets?” asked 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
“They were all upset. There are a lot of frustrations going on. And then it must be used as a performance evaluation for our sergeants, because they were upset at us,” said Paryaski.
So why was this old order being enforced?
Emails obtained by the 7 Investigators show a Lincoln Park lieutenant actively calling out specific officers each month who didn’t write a daily ticket and denying them the chance to work the overtime details.
In emails, one supervisor said “that’s the laziest shift on the department…” and in another the lieutenant says one officer’s numbers “should be double what they are, at the minimum.”
“This is highly disturbing,” said ACLU of Michigan attorney Mark Fancher.
Fancher says ticket quotas are unconstitutional.
“If their official policy is to violate the law, then it's in stark contradiction with everything that they're supposed to stand for. And ultimately, it's harmful not just to the department, but to the community at large,” said Fancher.
The ACLU has successfully sued other police agencies, exposing unofficial ticket quotas that resulted in racial disparities in traffic stops.
“If there is a policy in place or a requirement that officers make stops no matter what, then that sets the stage for abuse, on an ongoing basis,” said Fancher.
“It's just not the right thing to be doing right now. Especially in this day and age where there's a big turnover of police officers. It's hard to find bodies that even want to come to be a police officer,” said Paryaski.
Four days after the 7 Investigators sent our request for records about the ticket rules, Lincoln Park police rescinded the order that established the one-citation-a-shift requirement for overtime details.
Scott Lavis is Lincoln Park’s Police Chief.
“Why did you rescind the order after we requested information on it?” asked Catallo.
“My views on this are my officers are going to all the calls, are handling all the fatalities, the traffic crashes, handling the neighborhood complaints, handling the business complaints, stuff like that. They are the experts. They are the most experienced. They know where the problems are. Rather than having somebody above saying this is a number that you need,” said Lavis.
Lavis disagrees that the ticket rule was a quota. But he does agree that how the lieutenant was enforcing the rule was out of line.
“Is that the tone you want to set for this department?” asked Catallo.
“Absolutely not,” said Lavis.
“Why was this happening?” asked Catallo.
“A lot of that was without my knowledge. I wasn't on a lot of that. The communications after you sent the FOIA, I started getting this stuff, and that's an absolute embarrassment. It's not anything I directed. It wasn't an order from me,” said Lavis.
The Chief says now that this has been brought to his attention, he’s going through all of the departments’ general orders to make sure they are all relevant to current state laws.
He also assured the 7 Investigators that the department will not retaliate against the officer that came forward.
If you have a story for Heather, please email her at hcatallo@wxyz.com
