An apparent quota system that tied days off for some Baltimore County patrol officers to the number of traffic tickets they issued is drawing outrage from the county police union, which says the order is illegal.
“Police management is tying an officer?s time off to traffic enforcement,” union President Cole Weston said Thursday. “I think it?s highly inappropriate. I think it violates the house bill as it relates to quotas.”
In a May 14 letter obtained by The Examiner, Lt. Dean Brubaker called on his patrol officers to issue an average of three or more citations, warnings and equipment repair orders every day ? or they would be last in line when selecting days off. (Click here to download Brubaker’s order.)
Baltimore County Police Chief James Johnson immediately condemned the order upon learning about it.
“I had no knowledge this letter existed,” Johnson said Thursday. “I do not want a quota system exercised throughout the department. We haven?t had that problem here in Baltimore County. I want officers to produce, but a quota system I won?t tolerate.”
Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey said the letter does not “reflect policy or procedure for this agency.”
But Weston said the patrol officers under Brubaker were feeling the heat.
“I would hope it?s not condoned by the hierarchy of the police department,” he said. “I would hope they say, ?This needs to cease and desist.? ”
The order is problematic because it could strain the relationship between the police and community, Weston said.
“It?s the principle of it,” Weston said. “The fact of the matter is an officer could have 15 or 20 citations, warnings and equipment repair orders in a single day. There are also going to be days where you?re handling calls for service and domestic violence incidents and you would not have a single piece of traffic-related paperwork.”
A Maryland law that took effect on Oct. 1, 2006, made it illegal for police departments to enact formal or informal quotas for arrests or traffic tickets.
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