SEAL BEACH : Police Quota System Lawsuit to Continue

A federal judge in Los Angeles refused on Monday to dismiss a lawsuit by an attorney who alleges that Seal Beach police began using an illegal quota system for arrests and citations in January.

Attorney Ernest J. Franceschi Jr. is seeking to have fines repaid to anyone arrested or cited by Seal Beach police since Jan. 1, as well as $20 million in punitive damages. He is charging in his class-action suit that the city is violating the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable search and seizure.

Originally, Franceschi’s suit charged that the city had violated the federal Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) act, but he dropped that cause of action after U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson dismissed a similar lawsuit against the city of Huntington Beach in September. In that case, Franceschi charged that the city was, in effect, extorting money from drivers by operating an illegal speed trap, thereby violating the RICO statute.

His suit against Seal Beach is based on the constitutional argument and on charges that the city has violated state law through its alleged quota system.

On Monday, Wilson said Franceschi’s suit based on alleged Fourth Amendment violations may be heard in federal court, but added that the alleged violation of state law should be heard in state court.

Franceschi said he was surprised that Wilson did not dismiss the lawsuit outright.

“Since he dismissed the Huntington Beach case, I thought the same would happen here,” he said. He added that he may file a separate lawsuit in state court if the federal suit fails. “We could use that as a fallback position,” he said.

City Atty. Quinn Barrow said he was not surprised by Wilson’s action Monday.

“It would have been nice to have it dismissed at this stage, but courts are very reluctant to grant motions for dismissal,” Barrow said. “Basically, they like to give the plaintiff an opportunity to present the case and not just dismiss it immediately.”

Franceschi’s lawsuit stems from a controversial police “productivity policy” adopted on a trial basis on Jan. 1. That policy says “officers whose productivity is below 80% of the adjusted watch average . . . will be informally monitored by the appropriate supervisor and counseled toward increasing his/her productivity.”

Franceschi claims that that statement compels officers to make a minimum number of arrests and citations--a violation of state law--but city officials reject that interpretation. They say it is merely a clause added to existing performance standards on a trial basis.

Although it states that officers should perform as well as their peers based on the average number of field interviews, investigations, citations and arrests, the statement is only one of a long list of criteria for performance evaluation, City Manager Jerry L. Bankston said.

As one of 30 to 35 performance standards--which also include requirements such as wearing clean uniforms and keeping equipment in working order--the policy is legal, city officials said.