Is there a ticket quota for cops? Do cops get commission?

Question

For traffic cops, is there a quota of tickets you must give out? How are cops paid? Is it salary or do you get commission from the tickets?

Answer 1

Heck ya there is a quota.... I get 4 more this week and I get a free toaster!

Answer 2

There is no longer cops whose pay is based on tickets written.  But any traffic cop that does not do what is locally considered his/her  appropriate level of ticket writing in comparison with other officers is likely to find him/herself out of work.

Answer 3

Ticket quotas are illegal in every state in the USA!  Questions like this one come up every once in a while to prove that this old urban legend is still believed.

Police officers do not get commission on the tickets they write, nor is there a "peicework premium" for writing tickets.  It's just part of the job.

Most police officers are paid hourly wage ... the rest are on straight salary.  

Answer 4

Seriously?

Not at my PD. I get paid an hourly rate and it doesn't matter how many pinches I make or cites I write.

I've written about 6 cites in the last 4-5 months. No one has bitched about my "productivity."  I make meth pinches, as they are a lot more fun and can get me into more "action.".

Answer 5

In most areas cops do have minimun quotas they must achieve for each month. That's why cops are more picky near the end of the month on who they give a warning to and who they give a ticket.

Answer 6

No,

it's called "productivity" now.

Answer 7

Not  any more.  Now they can write as many tickets as they want.

Answer 8

Nope.

They are allowed to write as many as they like..........

Answer 9

The number count is to assure that an officer is doing their job.  If a traffic cop came end of his watch with 5 tickets then there is something wrong.  That is why they are given a number to make sure they are doing their job.  Quotas are illegal yet they have to have a number to make sure their doing their job.  Even though there are a high number of violators we don't live in a perfect world and their are slackers in every job.

As for commission off tickets.  It dosen't exist if it did people would be pulled over left and right for the smallest things and no one would get a break.  I think that would be a police officer's dream.  

Answer 10

There is actually a minimum. Especially in some metropolitan cities but yes they can write as many as they want.

Answer 11

Probably not.  However, when the money's tight, officers may get

assigned to more revenue generating activities...

Answer 12

There is no requirement that officers write a certain number of tickets each week, month or year. But officers do have goals set by their supervisors, and their performance is evaluated based on those goals.

It's not a specific quota. The sergeants set work standards for what they think a productive day should be.

Answer 13

I don't believe that traffic cops have some kind of quota to fill. They get paid a salary. Most of them don't make a lot of money, I would not put up with the things they put up with for the money they get. I'm sure glad they are on the road. Things could get really bad in a hurry if the cops were not patroling the highways and streets. And no i am not a cop or related to one .

Answer 14

The rumor is small towns use speed traps to raise money instead of raising taxes.  The idea is to write as many tickets as possible.