New York City Council's Transportation Committee met Monday to examine evidence that the police department has a quota for tickets and arrests. The hearing only focused on parking tickets with police officials emphatically denying the existence of quotas. Instead, police track an "average" of tickets issued year-to-year so that they can identify agents who might have a problem.

"As part of the overall performance of a traffic agent, the number of parking summonses which has been issued is certainly part of their productivity,"� NYPD Deputy Commissioner Susan Petito explained.

"Whether you call it expectation or average or baseline number -- without using that 'Q' word -- it still results in the same thing," Transportation Committee Chairman John Liu said. "These agents are out there under pressure to meet their expectation -- their baseline number -- whatever you want to call it. Let's call it what it is."

The city has 1100 parking agents, up 300 from last year, who issue between five and seven million tickets per year to generate half a billion dollars in revenue.