CINCINNATI, Ohio — A new state law prohibits police departments across Ohio from using ticket quotas as part of evaluating officer performance, WKRC reported.
Ohio Senate Bill 114, which went into effect on Sept. 30, aims to eliminate long-standing concerns that officer promotions and disciplinary actions were tied to citation numbers.
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The law prevents agencies from requiring officers to meet a minimum number of traffic stops, tickets or arrests for evaluation purposes. Lawmakers behind the bill say the change is intended to improve public trust in law enforcement.
Ken Kober, president of the Cincinnati Police Union, noted that although quotas are not widely used anymore, the public perception that they exist still influences how officers are viewed.
“Whether it was the end of the month or the beginning of the month, if you got stopped and you’re speeding, you would hear it from certain people. They go, ‘Oh, I guess you’re just trying to meet your quota for the month,’” Kober said.
State Representative Phil Plummer, who formerly served as sheriff in Montgomery County, was one of the bill’s leading voices. He described quotas as outdated and said removing them allows officers to better exercise discretion when enforcing the law.
“If you take away their discretion by mandating quotas and certain citations, it doesn’t bode well for police-community relationships,” Plummer said.
In addition to banning quotas, the law requires the Ohio Attorney General to establish a system that allows officers to report any use of quotas within their departments. The system will include an anonymous reporting option to protect whistleblowers, according to the report.
With the passage of the bill, Ohio becomes the 27th state to ban the use of ticket quotas in law enforcement.
What impact do you think Ohio’s ban on ticket quotas will have on officer discretion and community trust?
