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May 15, 2003
For Immediate Release |
Contact: Albert O'Leary
212-298-9190
or Joseph Mancini
212-298-9150
|
EVIDENCE OF TICKET QUOTAS
AND “DON’T BLAME THE COP”
CAMPAIGN
Presenting evidence that police officers face reassignment or
other punitive action for failure to meet summons quotas, PBA President
Patrick J. Lynch unveiled a print and radio-advertising campaign
today targeted to reduce the public’s anger towards officers
forced to write high-priced tickets to raise revenue for the cash-strapped
city.
The print ad for the campaign called “Don’t Blame
the Cop” shows an irate motorist furious with a young police
officer for issuing her a $105 ticket. It asks the public to place
the blame for more summonses, increased fines, reduced services
and a depleted police force on City Hall. The 60-second radio spot
voiced by Pat Lynch carries a similar message (text attached.)
“Today, as we launch our ‘Don’t Blame the Cop’
campaign, we are sharing hard evidence that our police officers
are being pressured to write high-priced summonses at the risk of
reassignment or other punitive action,” Lynch said. “This
type of evidence is very difficult to acquire because most supervisors
will not put it writing, but instead threaten officers verbally.
We are concerned that the pressure to write more high-priced summonses
will erode the relationship our officers have with the communities
they protect.”
A hand-written note from a Lieutenant in the 50th Precinct to a
Sergeant clearly shows that failure to write adequate numbers of
summonses will result in a change of hours or assignment. The note
states: “I’m recommending to the C.O. that (officer’s
name) be re-assigned off late tours. I’m dissatisfied with
his enforcement activity again.”
Regarding a different police officer, the note says: “He
only wrote 16 summonses for the entire month and if they were written
on O.T. his job on the 1st platoon is also in trouble.”
Two internal NYPD reports – one from a borough commander
the other from a precinct commander -- demonstrate the dissatisfaction
with officers writing tickets for broken equipment such as broken
stoplights or head light because they do not generate revenue if
the violator proves that he or she had the problem repaired.
One report states that a chief “…maintains that equipment
violations (defective lights, taillights) are not ‘good’
summonses and must be reduced to less than 10% of all total movers.”
The other report explains that supervisors will have to explain
the issuance of broken equipment summonses.
“These reports demonstrate the intense pressure and focus
in the NYPD on writing specific types of summonses that result in
large fine payment,” Pat Lynch said. “Our police officers
are caught between a rock and a hard place. They have to issue revenue-generating
summonses, and lots of them, or they are punished.”
The 60-second radio spot will hit the airwaves on Monday, May
19th on key radio stations and full-page print ads will appear in
various newspapers the following week.
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