Officers Jim Azpilicueta, Anthony Gonzalez, Mike Rosario, Nancy Ogle, Steve Johnson and Corporal Joseph Rivera claim their department imposed an “unlawful citation and arrest quota” in violation of the state Vehicle Code, CBS LA reported.
They claim the quotas were used to gauge performance, and that their “careers have been materially and adversely affected, and irreparably harmed” by the city.
The lawsuit alleges the officers were retaliated against after discussing their concerns with their department supervisors and filing a complaint with Internal Affairs about the quotas. They say they were subject to disciplinary action such as transfers and counseling sessions, and dealt with ridicule and scrutiny from their colleagues.
In a memo from 2012 obtained by KTLA 5, a department captain told one of the officers during a performance review, “You issued seven traffic citations versus a team average of 16.75. You had four misdemeanor arrests versus a team average of 9.5, and you have one felony arrest to a team average of three.”
The suit states officers Azpilicueta and Johnson were put under a supervisory review and performance improvement plan for failing to meet the targets. Johnson was also part of an investigation being conducted by Internal Affairs, and was suspended.
The officers said they “spoke out not only for the rights of themselves and their fellow officers, but also for the rights of the public by speaking out against what they believed to be an unlawful citation and arrest quota.”
“The lawsuit is unfortunate and the city will determine the best course of action once an analysis of the lawsuit is completed,” Collier said told the LA Times.
Police quotas like these are in violation of California law. The officers are seeking an unspecified amount of damages.
In December 2013, the City of Los Angeles agreed to a $6 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by nearly a dozen police officers on traffic patrol who claimed they were punished for failing to meet traffic ticket quotas.
