By Chris Lessey

PERFORMANCE MINIMUMS

Performance Minimums
Police officers much like anyone else who has a job must be assed on how well they are performing in the field. Performance Minimums more commonly known as ticket Quotas is the most commonly used method of assessing how an officer is performing.

How we are affected

Everyone who drives a car regularly is

affected by performance minimums. I can remember many times when I have seen multiple speed traps in a single area when there usually are none. To me this seems like a backwards way of catching speeders. When you see one speed trap you know there will be more thus people learn that if you see a speed trap slow down if not keep on going 80.

Why tickets are necessary

Tickets like taxes are a necessary evil. Tickets are the main sources of income for

police departments. We need police officers in our communities to serve and protect. Without ticketing from police officers we wouldnt have a police force to complain about.

Negative affects of tickets

Over ticketing can cause people to have a

negative association with police officers If a certain police force is notorious for giving out speeding tickets some people might avoid or even go around a certain area to make sure that they will not run the risk of getting a ticket. Speeding tickets raise your insurance rates which is often more costly then the ticket its self.

Positive affects of tickets

Tickets or the possibility of getting one is a

strong deterrent for drivers thinking about speeding All money collected by the police force is kept and reused to keep the peace Many times people who get one speeding ticket learn that they need to slow down or its going to cost them.

Is there an alterative to performance minimums?

There are many different ways that a police officer could be assed.

The option that seems much more versatile and adaptable would be weekly reports.
A police officer could express through writing all

of the things they did in that week. This would include how many dispatch calls they showed up to, speed traps and good deeds they have done. It could all be verified by using the GPS`s that police cruisers are equipped with.

Conclusion
Our police officers work day in day out to do

there job to the fullest. They dont deserve to be persecuted for following the orders given to them by there superior officer. If performance minimums where done away with and our police force was encouraged to do good in the community rather then make ticket quotas both parties would have happier lives.

Work cited slide

(1) wendy, ruderman. "To Stem Juvenile Robberies, Police Trail Youths Before the

Crime." the new york time [new york city] 4 3 2013, early a4. Print. (2) sasha, goldstein. "new london police search minorities more often than whites." the day [new london CT.] 5 7 2012, weekend b4. Print. (3) mike , cameron. "Arizona lawmakers renew bill to disband Colorado city police." arizona capital times [pheonix AZ.] 13 5 2012, early n. pag. Print.