NEWS RELEASE
In an ongoing effort to serve the community in the most professional and responsive manner possible, the South Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station has initiated a social media-based community outreach program entitled “Myth vs. Fact: The Law and You.”
This week’s topic: quotas.
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Here’s the first installment of the ‘Fact vs. Myth’ campaign.
The purpose of this program is to provide weekly legal and/or sheriff’s department policy information to the community through the use of social media. The community will also be afforded the opportunity to e-mail questions directly to the station for discussion or clarification.
“Thanks for the ticket deputy; I hope this helps you meet your quota.” This is a statement often heard from frustrated or angry motorists. Is there any merit to this? Do deputies actually have a quota? The answer is unequivocally: NO.
Establishing quotas for law enforcement officers in the State of California is illegal. Please consider the following California Vehicle Code Sections:
41600. For purposes of this chapter, “arrest quota” means any requirement regarding the number of arrests made, or the number of citations issued, by a peace officer, or parking enforcement employee, or the proportion of those arrests made and citations issued by a peace officer or parking enforcement employee, relative to the arrests made and citations issued by another peace officer or parking enforcement employee, or group of officers or employees.
41601. For purposes of this chapter, “citation” means a notice to appear, notice of violation, or notice of parking violation.
41601.5. For purposes of this chapter, “agency” includes the Regents of the University of California.
41602. No state or local agency employing peace officers or parking enforcement employees engaged in the enforcement of this code or any local ordinance adopted pursuant to this code, may establish any policy requiring any peace officer or parking enforcement employees to meet an arrest quota.
41603. No state or local agency employing peace officers or parking enforcement employees engaged in the enforcement of this code shall use the number of arrests or citations issued by a peace officer or parking enforcement employees as the sole criterion for promotion, demotion, dismissal, or the earning of any benefit provided by the agency. Those arrests or citations, and their ultimate dispositions, may only be considered in evaluating the overall performance of a peace officer or parking enforcement employees. An evaluation may include, but shall not be limited to, criteria such as attendance, punctuality, work safety, complaints by citizens, commendations, demeanor, formal training, and professional judgment.
Although this won’t put the myth of police quotas to rest, now you know the real deal.
Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, Or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com