Crime & Safety

State Troopers Given Illegal Ticket Quota?

Connecticut state police brass deny there was an illegal quota for tickets, but the union sees things differently.

A leaked internal memo written from a lieutenant in  tells state troopers they “need” to issue at least 60 tickets each shift in order to outperform competing barracks in the state.

“If we happen to issue 350 tickets in one day that would be stellar,” wrote Lt. Anthony Schirillo in the memo obtained by WTNH.

State police spokesmen Lt. Paul Vance says this isn’t a quota system.

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"This is not a joke or a game," Vance told WTNH. "It's a troop commanders' attempt to stimulate his personnel to enhance highway safety and this goes on all across the state. You will see enhanced enforcement as we continue along in the spring months." 

A police quota for tickets is illegal according to state law.

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Sec. 29-2b. Imposition of traffic ticket quotas prohibited. The Department of Public Safety shall not impose any quota with respect to the issuance of summonses for motor vehicle violations upon any policeman in said department. Nothing in this section shall prohibit said department from using data concerning the issuance of summonses in the evaluation of an individual's work performance provided such data is not the exclusive means of evaluating such performance. As used in this section, "quota" means a specified number of summonses for motor vehicle violations to be issued within a specified period of time.

The state police union president believes the email proves there’s an illegal quota system. 

"We’re disappointed and shocked, actually," Andrew Matthews told NBC Connecticut. "We’ve never seen anything like this in writing. It’s clearly a violation of 29-2B, which clearly says the agency cannot have a quota."


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