Police chief says ticket guidelines aren't quotas

Motorcycle officers in Colorado Springs should each be writing a minimum of 11 tickets a day, and their counterparts in patrol cars should issue at least one, according to internal police documents.

But these aren't quotas, Police Chief Richard Myers said.

During an impromptu media briefing Friday, Myers described them as guidelines that help supervisors keep track of their officers' job performance while ensuring the Police Department is delivering on its goal of reducing the injuries, deaths and property damage that result from traffic crashes.

"We have more people killed on highways in this city than we do in homicides," he said. "This is not about revenue."

A form for evaluating motorcycle officers includes the following "performance objective": "Officers will average a minimum of 2.2 violations" an hour.

Two violations can be written on the same ticket, so the objective asks for at least 11 tickets during a 10-hour shift and up to 22, police said. They are to be issued at the top 25 crash locations in the city, the form says, underscoring Myers' directive that police "go where the crashes are" in a bid to prevent them.

"I've had several guys that write more than several times that," said Sgt. Steve Weber, a supervisor in the motorcycle unit. "The majority of these guys don't even have to worry about these numbers. These are really for our low performers."

Ticket quotas - feared and despised by drivers everywhere - demand that officers meet goals or face mandatory discipline, Myers told reporters. That's not the case here, he said.

Most officers have little problem exceeding the guidelines, and those who fail are excused if they can demonstrate they were busy pursuing calls and other duties, he said. Written and verbal communication, "customer service," initiative and use of time, teamwork, leadership and problem solving are among other categories considered during an officer's three annual performance reviews, documents show.

"We look at the total package. That's the difference," Myers said.

The meeting at the Police Operations Center on South Nevada Avenue marked an about-face for the department, which has been reluctant to discuss how it directs officers who patrol traffic, especially when it comes to the number of tickets they write.

Myers' briefing coincided with the release of documents laying out those expectations for officers in patrol cars and the motorcycle unit, a specialized unit detailed exclusively to patrolling for traffic violators.

The 14-page packet was compiled in response to Open Records requests by The Gazette and two television stations after the Police Department's announcement this week that two motorcycle officers had been exaggerating the number of tickets they wrote. In addressing the ruse, police spokesman Lt. David Whitlock declined to discuss those details.

Under a previous standard, some motorcycle officers had been asked to issue 14 tickets per day, including two red-light violations per week, 2.5 tickets at the top 25 crash locations, four tickets at neighborhood complaint locations and two tickets in school zones.

Myers said police supervisors, not the mayor or City Council, set the objectives. He denied that anyone inside city government has asked him to raise performance standards as a means of generating revenue.

The objectives are for prevention and accountability, not the city's coffers, he said.

"Police officers are paid for by taxpayers, and they want to know that they're getting a return on their investment," he said.

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CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0366 or lance.benzel@gazette.com  

Details
The 14-page packet was compiled in response to Open Records requests by The Gazette and two television stations after the Police Department's announcement this week that two motorcycle officers had been exaggerating the number of tickets they wrote.