(The Center Square) – Fear of speed traps and ticket quotas could soon be eliminated for Ohio drivers.
New bipartisan legislation in the House of Representatives would make it illegal for municipalities to establish ticket and arrest quotas, joining 25 other states that ban the practice often used by government entities to increase budgets.
Cosponsor Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Westlake, said quotas are a risk to public safety, forcing officers to focus on ticket writing rather than the overall safety of a community.
“At its core, this bill is about public safety,” Sweeney said. “Law enforcement officers’ primary job is to protect and serve our community – they can’t do that if they are expected to meet arbitrary quotas that don’t reflect the safety needs of the community. We want our law enforcement officers to be evaluated based upon the quality of their police work, not the quantity of tickets they can write.”
Michigan and Pennsylvania already have quota bans, along with the Ohio State High Patrol, a key fact for co-sponsor Rep. Kevin Miller, a 20-year patrol veteran.
“If the Ohio State Highway Patrol, arguably the most proactive law enforcement agency in Ohio, can operate with a quota prohibition, so can the other law enforcement agencies in the state,” Miller said.
House Bill 131 also received support from the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association and the Fraternal Order of Police.
George Sakellakis, the association’s director of organization, said quotas challenge the trust between law enforcement and the people they serve.
“The Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association commends Reps. Sweeney and Miller for working to prohibit ticket and arrest quotas and avoid unnecessary conflict between law enforcement and the people we proudly serve,” Sakellakis said. “When agencies arbitrarily dictate a certain number of arrests or citations that an officer must issue to keep their job, the trust between the public and law enforcement, as well as the very nature of constitutional policing, is needlessly tested.”
