Police Union Sues Over Alleged Daily Quota for Traffic Tickets

Traffic officers in downtown and East Los Angeles are being required to write an illegal quota of at least 10 traffic tickets a day or face possible disciplinary action, including demotion, the police officers union charged in a lawsuit filed Thursday.

The suit, directed at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Central Traffic Division, charges that ticketing goals established in March violate state laws against arrest quotas. A hearing on the case is set for Oct. 26.

David Baca Jr., vice president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said about 40 traffic officers have submitted written declarations to support the suit after failing to persuade Police Department officials to drop the ticketing standards. The number represents nearly half the motorcycle officers who patrol downtown streets and surrounding areas, he said.

Seasoned Veterans

“When you have that many officers . . . you’re not just talking about lazy officers who don’t want to work,” Baca said in an interview. “We’re talking about veteran, seasoned officers.”

Police Department officials denied that quotas have been established for traffic officers, but they acknowledged putting pressure on officers to increase the number of tickets they write. Capt. Ted Kozak, who heads the 67-square-mile central traffic area, said officers have been told that 10 tickets a day is “something we might expect” unless they are tied up on other duties, such as investigating accidents.

“There’s no quota here in the division--we’ve never told anybody the quota is 10 tickets per day,” Kozak said. “But we are concerned about the productivity of officers . . . and there’s a very good reason for that.”

Fewer Fatalities

He said a dramatic increase in the number of tickets issued has led to a decline in fatalities and serious traffic accidents.

For the first eight months of this year, the number of tickets issued citywide increased 39% over similar totals for last year, Kozak said. At the same time, he said, the number of fatal accidents is down 4.5% after a 16% climb the year before.

But officers charged that the central division is the only one of the city’s four traffic divisions to require “double-digit” totals as a daily average for officers. As part of the lawsuit, Officer Michael Partain, a 13-year veteran, charged that superiors threatened to disband the division’s motorcycle unit unless more tickets were written.

Punishment Mentioned

Officers were told that “if an individual did not produce the required double-digit (ticket totals), the officer would be punished . . . (by transfer, demotion) or ‘freeway therapy,’ ” Partain claimed in a written statement. “It is well understood among Los Angeles police officers that ‘freeway therapy’ means that one will be assigned at the farthest point from one’s residence.”

Partain, who helped initiate the union lawsuit, said he tried to protest the standards but was told to keep quiet and meet the requirements. “They told me if I had to stand on the corner of 5th and Wall streets and write up every wino that came across (for jaywalking), that’s what I had to do,” Partain said in an interview. “There’s no doubt in my mind the law’s been violated. . . .”

Cars, Not Motorcycles

Kozak said police officials at one point discussed replacing motorcycles with patrol cars, but that idea has kicked around for some time and was not a threat aimed at increasing the volume of tickets. The division commander said it is “absolutely untrue” that officers have been threatened with demotions or “freeway therapy” for failing to write enough tickets.

“No officer was ever transferred out of this division because of productivity (in writing traffic tickets) and no officer has ever been moved off a watch because of productivity since I’ve been here,” beginning in January, Kozak said.

“(But) I think we’ve been putting a lot of pressure on certain officers in this division to increase their performance and flatly they do not like it.”