House passes ban on traffic ticket quotas

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The House approved a measure Monday that would outlaw the practice of requiring police officers to issue a certain number of traffic tickets to meet job performance goals.

House Bill 264 passed the House 39-31 and is sponsored by Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden.

Hansen says police departments are turning into tax collectors instead of allowing officers to use their discretion. He says this puts the public at risk because police patrol areas that generate more revenue instead of the most dangerous roads. He says that results in police spend time writing tickets to meet goals instead of doing more important work.

Law enforcement officials oppose the bill, denying there are quotas. Police also say Hansen's bill would allow an officer to defy a supervisor.

Hansen's bill now goes to the Senate, where it died last year.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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