An NYPD officer has revealed publicly what everyone assumed was true, that the police have quotas they have to meet in terms of tickets and summonses given out every month. He has audio of his superior officer saying so and demanding that he increase his numbers to meet the quota or he'll find himself delivering pizzas for a living. Video below the fold.
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Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of Michigan Citizens for Science and co-founder of The Panda's Thumb. He has written for such publications as The Bard, Skeptic and Reports of the National Center for Science Education, spoken in front of many organizations and conferences, and appeared on nationally syndicated radio shows and on C-SPAN. Ed is also a Fellow with the Center for Independent Media and the host of Declaring Independence, a one hour weekly political talk show on WPRR in Grand Rapids, Michigan.(static)
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Cop Reveals NYPD Quotas
Posted on: March 13, 2010 9:02 AM, by Ed Brayton
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I've always strongly suspected such shenanigans. What bullshit! This is a waste of recourses, much like the three strikes law. We spend huge amounts of money hassling low level crooks while the big boys just skate away all in the interests of looking like we are doing something rather than actually doing it. Like praying!
I've always respected the jobs police have to do, but I must confess that the very idea of someone having power over me irks me to no end. Ff I go into court, they automatically are more "Truthful" and "reliable". Bah!
I hope this forces a house cleaning.
Blessed Atheist Bible Study @ http://blessedatheist.com/
Posted by: kKBundy | March 13, 2010 9:20 AM
My surprise is a product of the fact that this is actually a revelation to, well, anyone. I can't believe this is actually called "new." What's tomrrow's big story, that politicians lie? There are two instances of "journalism" which I often cite as the archetypes of the breathless exposé of common knowledge:
The first example, from New Jersey was I believe a screaming headline from the 60s, possibly 70s: "Mob Ties Alleged in Jersey Politics." Wow, whoda thunk?
The second, from the Toledo Blade in the 80s, when they ran a multi-part series on (wait for it...) FEDERAL WORKERS LOAFING ON THE JOB! Gee, I never suspected that.
This piece, documenting that cops have quotas, and sometimes overreach to achieve them, should come as a revelation to exactly no one. What grown person in this country lacks this knowledge? I've assumed it for years, heard it spoken about, and even read the occasional newspaper reference to it. Admittedly, it seems to be thought of most often in a traffic enforcement setting.
Posted by: TGAP Dad | March 13, 2010 10:44 AM
I'm staying at a cheap hotel in a small town in Arizona. Last night I walked out of the hotel to a convenience store about 200 ft up the road to get a beer. On the way back, a cop car stopped me and they gave me a 3rd degree questioning routine - what was my name, where did I come from, what was I doing here, what was my occupation, etc. All kinds of questions. They asked for my ID and did a warrant check, then they let me go. It was relatively polite, but I still felt like I was in Nazi Germany without any papers. Can't even walk anywhere without being harassed. I talked to some people back at the hotel about it, and they said that because of the recession, many cops are being laid off and are desperate to justify their existence. It's a better paying job than some others they can get. What a racket.
Posted by: jeff | March 13, 2010 10:51 AM
TGAP Dad #2: Of course the idea that cops have quotas for tickets or arrests is as old as the hills. What is new, as far as I know, is actually having a supervisor on tape discussing them. It's possible there were such stories previously, but I can't recall them.
Posted by: JusticeLeague | March 13, 2010 10:52 AM
The biggest problem with this story -- nobody cares.
You would think something like this would make a minor ruffle, at least, but if you search for "Adil Polanco" on Google News you get 10 hits on a story that's less than two weeks old. A missing pet monkey in North Dakota would get more than that, likely many times more.
Posted by: tacitus | March 13, 2010 11:16 AM
The only change from the bad old days is technology. The video showed an old-fashioned tape recorder. That cop could have had a modern recorder hidden in his shirt pocket.
Even a cell phone can be used as a transmit-only listening device. Not that I'd encourage anybody to spy on the police and upload the result to YouTube to make it public domain.
Posted by: 6EQUJ5 | March 13, 2010 2:23 PM
I used to commute daily to Ames, IA on highway 30, which crosses interstate 35. Every so often at the end of the month there would be a plane circling above and cops on the ground on all four sides of the cloverleaf. They'd pull over whole lines of cars at a time.
I never saw them doing this during the rest of the month, just at the end. I know, I know, anecdotes aren't data, but we all joked about the end of the month quotas anyway.
Posted by: Bob | March 13, 2010 3:34 PM
The statement about not helping anyone says it all. Cops have become nothing but dickheads. Like these fucking assholes.
.Lesbian sgt. discharged after police tell military
Jene Newsome played by the rules as an Air Force sergeant: She never told anyone in the military she was a lesbian. The 28-year-old's honorable discharge under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy came only after police officers in Rapid City, S.D., saw an Iowa marriage certificate in her home and told the nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base.
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Newsome was at work at the base at the time and refused to immediately come home and assist the officers in finding her partner, whom she married in Iowa — where gay marriage is legal — in October.
Police officers, who said they spotted the marriage license on the kitchen table through a window of Newsome's home, alerted the base, police Chief Steve Allender said in a statement sent to the AP. The license was relevant to the investigation because it showed both the relationship and residency of the two women, he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lesbian_sergeant_discharged
Posted by: Owen | March 13, 2010 5:00 PM
Why am I not surprised by this?
Posted by: WMDKitty | March 14, 2010 12:46 AM
A particularly nice irony here is the name of the honest cop: "Adil" is Arabic for "righteous".
Posted by: Bill Poser | March 14, 2010 5:17 PM
@kKBundy: Yup - just like the TSA - make a big show to fool the gullible into believing they're safe - then put armed bozos on board, effectively supplying terrorists with weapons. But if you rough up enough folks for not looking white enough and harass the occasional 6-year-old white kid, it's all cool.
Posted by: MadScientist | March 14, 2010 5:44 PM
"Productivity goals"
It's so comforting to know that American corporate bullshit is serving us so swell in just about everything.
Posted by: Dean Austin | March 15, 2010 6:41 PM
Owen @ 8,
That's not exactly accurate. You can't say that "Jene Newsome played by the rules as an Air Force sergeant." Applying for a marriage license constitutes a public statement as a marriage license is a public document. Since military members are not to make any public statements about their sexual orientation under DADT SSgt Newsome knowingly broke the rules all by herself.
I hope we can get DADT repealed soon, and that SSgt Newsome doesn't get herself into any trouble before she can get back in the Air Force once DADT is repealed, but she can't say that she didn't know this was a real possibility. You are right that the cops in that case were fucking assholes though.
Posted by: Silent Service | March 16, 2010 4:51 PM