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Bill proposed by police union dies in Illinois House
December 18, 2010
A bill in the Statehouse this year reopened a lingering debate in traffic enforcement: Are officers ordered to write a specific number of tickets?
A top Illinois police union says yes. The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council pushed a bill that would ban departments from issuing ticket quotas to officers.
The union’s executive director, David Wickster, said he has heard stories of officers disciplined for not writing enough tickets, especially in difficult economic times, and he wants Illinois to follow 17 other states that address quotas, including Indiana and Wisconsin.
Police chiefs, however, say quotas are rare — at least in the way the union claims. Many chiefs say they keep track of ticket numbers to catch and punish slackers who never make traffic stops, let alone write any tickets.
