Officer criticises Quotas

Mike T. channelcincinnati.com CINCINNATI -- Vincent George has been putting on his Cincinnati police officer niform for seven years -- he's even received awards for his beat work -- but he's been placed on overnight desk duty ever since he filed a grievance, News's John London reported.

George filed the grievance over what he said is punishment for not meeting quotas his supervisor, Lt. Anthony Carter, laid out for all third-relief workers, London reported.

"The lieutenant has, in his mind, come up with these numbers he feels we can accomplish, and if you don't make them, he has his consequences," George said. "I didn't join (the police force) to become a predator that goes out and sits on a corner where a light is and watch people run red lights." ... "The Cincinnati Police Department's policy has always been that they do not have quotas," Fraternal Order of Police vice president Keith Fangman said. "I have heard reports recently of officers being put on desk duty and walking patrols for not meeting quotas. Obviously, this appears to be a major change in police department policy as it relates to quotas."

A review of George's evaluations showed that the monthly arrest totals from this year were on the mark for a while. But lately, they've fallen far short of Carter's listed goals. A sergeant's review of George, done at Carter's request, showed that his monthly totals for July and August were substandard and stated that he'd been counseled about the goals. -----------

Evaluating cops by quotas or even number of arrests, tickets, or stops is probably the dumbest, most unproductive policy that police departments follow--and many of them do follow it. It practically encourages cops to make unnecessary stops and arrests, thereby wasting their time and our tax dollars and creating potentially dangerous situations.

It was exactly such policies that led to the killings, for example, of Patrick Dorismond a security guard on his way home from work, Amadou Diallo for acting "suspicious" on his own doorstep, and many others.

"In mid-January 2000 Giuliani and his police commissioner...authorized virtually unlimited overtime for the police department....'In order to continue working the overtime, you are expected to produce,' says Tom Scotto, president of the Detective's Endowment buttociation.

The official quota, say the undercovers, was five collars per tour for each team. No one sweated over the quality of the arrests. A man selling tamales on the street was busted for not having a permit. Another was grabbed for spitting on the sidewalk. Nearly 80% of all...cases were misdemeanors or low-level violations....

Patrick Dorismond just wanted to catch a taxi. But the drug warriors refused to listen to him. They wanted to make some overtime. The mayor, who got them the overtime money, wanted better crime statistics...And Dorismond ended up dead."

--"Casualty in the War on Drugs," Jim Dwyer, In: Busted, Mike Gray, editor; Avalon-Nation, New York, 2002.