Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/02/289.asp
3/29/2005
Baltimore Police Using Quota System
A new quota system in Baltimore, Maryland emphasizes tickets and arrests.
Police in Baltimore, Maryland who do not meet expected ticket and arrest targets are being "reassigned" to other duties and told to improve. Police union representatives told the Baltimore Sun, "You have officers competing with each other, officers worrying about their arrests numbers. There's going to be pressure to make arrests arbitrarily just to get your numbers up."
In February the police used a point system where 10 parking tickets were worth 1 point and each arrest worth 3 points. This month, a new system was put in place to avoid the obvious association with quotas. All statistics are now tallied together and compared. The lowest twenty-seven "performing" officers are then punished.
Article Excerpt:Councilman Kenneth N. Harris said the program raises the specter of quotas and civil rights violations. "My concern is if officers start arresting people for no good reasons - without probable cause," he said. "We want to focus on quality of policing and arrests, not quantity."
Source: Critics assail police policy (Baltimore Sun, 3/29/2005)
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