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Federal Cash Promoted Rhode Island Ticket Quotas
theNewspaper ^ | 12/15/2017 | n/a

Posted on 12/14/2017 10:35:07 PM PST by Ken H

Email evidence shows US Department of Transportation grant program inspired an illegal ticket quota system in Rhode Island.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) last month warned Rhode Island police chiefs against the use of ticket quotas that are illegal under state law. The civil rights group began working on the issue after a WJAR television investigative report found evidence that police were ordered to issue a specified number of tickets in response to a federal grant program known in the state as Operation Blue Riptide.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration sends funds for this program to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, which in turn distributes the cash to local police departments. The money is ultimately sourced from the gasoline taxes motorists pay at the pump nationwide. It is used to pay officers between one-and-a-half and double their normal salaries while participating in speeding ticket blitzes and operating highway roadblocks.

In July, the National Motorists Association asked the Trump administration's new secretary of Transportation to put an end to the quota-driven federal program (view letter).

Reporters for WJAR obtained incriminating emails from the Charlestown Police Department about the strings attached to the federal money.

"This grant mandates five traffic stops per hour," Lieutenant Patrick J. McMahon wrote to patrol officers on October 11, 2016. "Warnings are not allowed when participating in this particular federally funded grant. So if you feel your discretion is being taken away, please do not sign up for this patrol overtime."

On October 7, 2015, Charlestown Police Sergeant James S. Dufficy sent out a memo to officers summarizing a patrol command meeting about "how we can increase our productivity."

"Make four contacts during your shift," he ordered. "This can be in the form of a traffic stop or field interviews... Tickets are encouraged."

The officers were accurately describing the mandate imposed by the state's own highway safety plan. The fiscal year 2007 through 2009 plans included unambiguous language about ticketing being central to the project.

"Increase enforcement, as measured by the number of citations for speeding during Operation Blue RIPTIDE/state police speed monthly enforcement mobilizations (12,439 in fiscal year 2005)," the plan stated as a primary goal.

The Rhode Island DOT even created the "Chief's Challenge Incentive Reward Program" to encourage cities to compete with one another to drive up their numbers. ACLU attorneys suggest this incentive is counterproductive.

"An encounter between a motorist and a police officer over a traffic violation is never a pleasant one, but it is even less so when the basis for the stop is to meet a quota, not to address a truly legitimate safety need," the ACLU wrote. "A quota policy can only generate disrespect for, and cynicism about, law enforcement."

Rhode Island Code Section 31-27-25 forbids any law enforcement agency from having any policy "formally or informally requiring any officer to meet a quota."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; US: Rhode Island
KEYWORDS: donutwatch
So the money comes from "gasoline taxes motorists pay at the pump nationwide and it is used to pay officers between one-and-a-half and double their normal salaries while participating in speeding ticket blitzes and operating highway roadblocks."
1 posted on 12/14/2017 10:35:07 PM PST by Ken H
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To: Ken H

Direct link=> http://thenewspaper.com/news/63/6350.asp


2 posted on 12/14/2017 10:36:09 PM PST by Ken H (Best election ever!)
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To: Ken H

Pity the ACLU couldn’t stick to working cases like this one, instead of persecuting normal Americans. They would earn more respect and funding. I wish them success in this particular instance.


3 posted on 12/14/2017 10:51:37 PM PST by thescourged1
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To: Ken H

Eliminate the Federal DOT.
Eliminate all Federal energy taxes.
Let the states collect those taxes and spend as each sees fit.

Eliminate all Federal alcohol, tobacco, firearms taxes.
Eliminate the ATF.
Let the states collect those taxes and regulate those items as each state sees fit.


4 posted on 12/15/2017 5:03:27 AM PST by spintreebob
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To: thescourged1

I don’t know. I speed most of the time (like most people, I think). Every 3 years or so, I get pulled over, and sometimes get a warning, sometimes get a ticket. It’s probably against my interest to call for more rigorous enforcement of these particular laws, but, in a way, I can’t see why not. Of course there should be room for discretion and taking individual circumstances into account, but when you are bagged for breaking what, after all, is the law, one time in a thousand, that is the opposite of overbearing. If speed is not a problem, then the laws should change to a higher limit. If it really is, then the law should be enforced as fairly and uniformly as possible. If people were cited even 10% of the time, they would obey the speed limit laws most of the time. Doing it 0.1% of the time encourages drivers to use their own judgment about how fast to go (which is OK with me), but it erodes respect for law. Laws should be few, clear, and enforced. If we don’t want them enforced, they should be repealed or changed. I don’t buy that police enforce these laws in discriminatory ways. It’s more capricious than that, I think. But having a law and almost never enforcing it sends a message that we have rules but don’t mean it, and how can that be good? Can Freepers with law enforcement experience explain what I have long wondered about, why we have this “system” of very low enforcement rates everywhere?


5 posted on 12/15/2017 5:23:37 AM PST by Stirner
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To: Stirner

This isn’t so much about enforcement of traffic laws as it is about encouraging LEO’s to engage in illegal enforcement methods. Kind of like civil asset forfeiture law abuse. If you offer cops a monetary incentive to enforce certain laws, then they’re going to take a loose interpretation of probable cause guidelines in order to cash-in.


6 posted on 12/15/2017 8:45:54 AM PST by thescourged1
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To: Ken H

I was told by a policeman that they did NOT have quotas. They had performance measures that went into their work record. That is a completely different thing (according to him).


7 posted on 12/15/2017 11:13:39 AM PST by jim_trent
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