- Police agencies across the state are currently allowed to mandate arrest and ticket quotas.
- State Representative Bride Rose Sweeney says these systems erode public trust in the police.
- Other states like Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, and Louisiana have already banned police quotas.
It’s long been an open secret that many police forces around the world have quotes that they expect officers to meet on a weekly basis. However, several lawmakers in Ohio are pushing back, and want to make ticket and arrest quotas illegal across the state.
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Ohio House Bill 131 was announced last year but didn’t make it out of the local committee and didn’t come up for a vote. Now, it’s been joined by a companion bill in the state senate, and is back on the agenda. State Representative Bride Rose Sweeney, with the backing of Rep. Kevin Miller, a former State Highway Patrol Officer, says that as it stands, ticket and arrest quotas are legal in the state.
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“In Ohio, it is completely legal for us to mandate a police officer to go out every single day on a taxpayer dime to produce 10-20 tickets,” Sweeney said.
She believes that if the public knows officers are writing tickets to meet quotas, it “undermines the public trust in law enforcement.” She wants to make these quota systems illegal, following in the footsteps of 25 other US states that have banned police quotas. These include Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
“Ohioans must be assured that any citation or arrest is valid, legitimate, and necessary,” said the director of the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, George Sakellakis. “Police officers, sheriff’s deputies and troopers are true professionals who risk their lives to serve our communities, not revenue generators. They got into this business to protect our neighborhoods, not occupy them. We are thankful that the legislature is tackling this important issue and urge them to pass this bill and end the practice of quotas in Ohio.”
Speaking with Fox 8, the president of Ohio’s Fraternal Order of Police, Brian Steel, said both police officers and sheriffs support the idea of ditching quotas. By doing so, officers will be able to focus on more important work.
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