New State Law Prohibits Issuing Ticket Quota To Police
(STMW) -- Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation that prohibits municipalities from requiring police officers to meet ticket quotas on Sunday.
The new law - or Senate Bill 3411 - prevents quotas from being used to evaluate an officer's performance, according to a statement from the governor's office.
The new law applies to local, county and state police officers, and is effective immediately, the statement said.
Sponsored by State Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) and State Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea), the new measure prohibits a county or municipality from requiring a law enforcement officer to issue a specific number of citations within a designated period of time, the statement said. It also said a county or municipality may not compare the number of citations issued by a law enforcement officer to the number of citations issued by any other officer for purposes of job performance evaluation.
"Law enforcement officers should have discretion on when and where to issue traffic citations and not be forced to ticket motorists to satisfy a quota system," Quinn said in the statement. "This new law will improve safety and working conditions for police officers and prevent motorists from facing unnecessary anxiety when they encounter a police vehicle."
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)