4um: Leaked Document From Mayor to Police: Your Paycheck Depends on How Many Tickets You Write

Title: Leaked Document From Mayor to Police: Your Paycheck Depends on How Many Tickets You Write
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URL Source: http://thefreethoughtproject.com/in ... aycheck-depends-tickets-write/
Published: Apr 19, 2015
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Post Date: 2015-04-19 08:59:09 by Katniss
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Views: 89
Comments: 5

Leaked Document From Mayor to Police: Your Paycheck Depends on How Many Tickets You Write

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Edmundson, MO– While police and their supporters continue to insist that police are out there keeping our streets safe, an internal document sent from the Edmundson Mayor John Gwaltney implies otherwise. The letter, which was included with the paychecks of the town’s police officers, spells out in very plain terms their actual role in the community – extorting money for the state.

In the document obtained by ThinkProgress, the mayor is careful to point out that the town does not have quotas. He states that he only wants “good tickets” written but adds that he is still very disappointed that the Department had been extorting fewer people. Gwaltney goes on to threaten the officers’ bank accounts, stating;

“The tickets that you write do add to the revenue on which the P.D. budget is established and will directly affect pay adjustments at budget time.”

He doesn’t stop with their pay, either, the mayor then goes on to imply that the officers benefits may be in danger, should they not get their ticket production up by budget time.

“It has always been the desire of myself and the Board to provide a safe and pleasant work place with good compensation and benefits for everyone. However, our ability to continue doing this is being compromised by your work slow down. I realize that your work production records are directly effected by many extenuating circumstances and those factors are always accounted for as your work records are reviewed by myself and human resources,” the mayor warns.

may john gwaltney letter

One fifth of Edmundson’s population is below poverty level, and the town collects 35% of its revenue from tickets and fines.

While departments will usually deny quotas exist, more and more police have been admitting to their existence, despite the careful wording to leave enough wiggle room for plausible deniability.

However, just last week we reported on “the world’s worst cop” who also admitted to the use of quotas and was captured on video.

“This is the last day of the month. I get every stat I need just off of you guys,” says the officer as he begins his rights violating confession.

“So you guys gotta make quota, huh?” asks the detained teen.

“We don’t have a quota. We have expectations. And what that means is, you will make so many arrests a month, you should write so many tickets a month, and you should haul so many dumbasses to jail a month. If we’re gonna pay you $100,000 a year, we should expect something back from you, shouldn’t we?” says the officer.

When the man replies, ‘yes’ that he understands what the officer just said, the cop then asks, “Would you like to be part of my quota tonight?”

The young man then asks the cop, “On what grounds [would you arrest me]?”

To which the cop replies, “‘On what grounds?’ Oh, I don’t know, I’ll think of something. How about aiding and abetting reckless driving?”

There is no money in solving murders and rape cases, but pursuing victimless crimes such a minor traffic violations and catching a kid with a joint provide a steady stream of revenue for the city. Protect and serve, or stalk and extort? Perhaps it is time to change that motto.

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This began in the late 70s in NYC. The PBA took out full page ads in the NYT, NY Post, and Daily News explaining the program in hopes that the citizenry and business community would put pressure on the politicians, but the effort failed. As it turns out the only people who suffer from summons are the middle class. The poor don't bother to pay and the rich don't care. As the welfare state grows and the middle class shrinks, the few will be summonsed more and I betcha they still will march off to the polls and vote for the same s'bags who collect our money.

The only good thing our NYC mayor has done is to refuse the police commissioner's demand for 1000 more cops.

I'm with you. Leave NYC & the public to the brigands. I can't imagine who would join the NYPD in this day and age.

CTV Montreal Published Monday, November 10, 2014 11:48AM EST Last Updated Monday, November 10, 2014 11:58AM EST

The city of Montreal has filed another grievance against police officers stemming from a decrease in handing out tickets.

In September both parties went before the Labour Relations Board after the city complained about a substantial drop in the amount of tickets being handed out by officers.

At that time the union told the Board that there had been no directive to stop handing out tickets.

Instead the Police Brotherhood argued the cause was likely due to having more officers directing traffic at construction-heavy intersections, which would prevent them from patrolling traffic for scofflaws.

The city of Montreal says that since June, officers have handed out $12.85 million fewer in contraventions when compared to last year.

Yves Francoeur said the complaint is pointless because nothing has changed: officers are still spending time directing traffic.

He said though, that given the ongoing disputes with the city and the province, officers are not feeling motivated to seek out drivers who are breaking the law.

Police officers are upset by incoming provincial legislation that would force them to contribute more to their pension plans.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results --- Albert Einstein

They are having trouble recruiting. Its not just the money.
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NYPD sees sharp drop in applicants in 2014 Police exam test-takers decline by 17.8 percent; experts blame public criticism, better pay and options elsewhere April 14, 2015 5:00PM ET by Wilson Dizard @willdizard The New York City Police Department witnessed a steep drop in the number of people trying to become police officers in 2014, joining other municipalities across the United States that are finding it harder to recruit new officers.

The number of people taking the NYPD police officer’s exam fell 17.8 percent in 2014 to 12,286 from 14,953 a year earlier, according to the city. AM New York, a local daily newspaper, was the first to report the decline.

Some criminal justice experts say the decline in new recruits is due to several recent incidents around the country in which police officers have been involved in killing unarmed black men. New York City had days of protests against police in December after a grand jury declined to indict officers in the death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old Staten Island man who died after NYPD officers restrained him, forced him to the sidewalk and ignored his plea of “I can’t breathe,” captured on a widely viewed video.

“If you’re a student and you wanted to be a police officer, then you’re looking at what’s going on and how the police are being portrayed,” said Joe Giacalone, a professor of criminal justice at John Jay College in New York City and a 20-year veteran of the NYPD. “These kids are plugged into social media, have seen the videos, demonstrations and will decide differently if they were sitting on the fence.”

New York is not the only city struggling to find new recruits. New Orleans launched a campaign last summer to find suitable recruits, The Times-Picayune reported. In West Virginia, a police official attributed a drop in applicants to increased scrutiny of the police, The Associated Press reported last year.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics, an arm of the Justice Department, does not keep track of recruiting practices, so there is no comprehensive data on nationwide trends in recruiting.

In the absence of hard numbers, some law enforcement observers say the decline in recruiting may be the result of other factors. “For me I think it’s just too early to tell,” said Doug Wyllie, editor of Police One, a news and information resource site for law enforcement officers.

Wyllie blamed low pay and better options. “Putting your life on the line isn’t the most attractive thing compared with making Internet dollars on some future IPO,” he said.

Joe Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, a national law enforcement union, blames better pay in other sectors of an improving job market for the decline. “I think a very good reason why police recruiting is down in the NYPD is that they don’t pay as well as the surrounding jurisdictions,” Pasco said, noting high salaries in Suffolk County, in Long Island.

Suffolk officers make more money and face less risk than their city counterparts, Pasco noted. Base salaries are the same, at $42,000 a year, AM New York reported. However, after 5 years, that salary more than doubles to $100,000. With overtime pay, sergeants can make as much as 300,000, according to Newsday.

AM New York noted that Suffolk county also had a decline in the number of applicants, of 34.8 percent between 2014 and 2011.

Giacalone worries that the issue could lower the quality of service people receive from the police. “This is at a national level,” Giacalone said. "Police departments will suffer with a lack of recruits, increased overtime costs ... and more complaints and corruption problems."