Look, every day you hear of the latest case of public corruption in government. If happens often! And one place public corruption happens is within the police department. Many people have suspicions that the police have “ticket quotas” that each officer has to meet each month. I know many police departments across the country never does things like this, but Reason.TV has uncovered a severe case of “ticket quotas” in Auburn Alabama.
Reason.TV went down to Auburn and interviewed former Auburn police officer Justin Hanners, who claims he and other cops were given directives to hassle, ticket, or arrest specific numbers of residents per shift. In his words, “I got into law enforcement to serve and protect, not be a bully.”
Hanners blew the whistle on the department’s tactics and was eventually fired for refusing to comply and keep quiet. He says that each officer was required to make 100 contacts each month, which included tickets, arrests, field interviews, and warnings. This equates to 72,000 contacts a year in a 50,000 person town. His claims are backed up by audio recordings of his superiors he made. The audio in the video below is shocking, no police department should be doing stuff like this. When a Sargent says to the police force that you need to throw some ***** into jail, that speaks corruption at every level!
Hanners firmly believes that the quotas are entirely revenue driven and he tried to stop the quota from within the department, but nothing happened. Hanners said the police department encouraged officers to arrest people that “didn’t feel like had broken the law.” Now Hanners has found another job and is planning to sue the Auburn Police Department. The Auburn Police Department declined requests to be interviewed for the story.
Look, most police officers are great people and are doing their job. If I blow a red light or speed and get pulled over, I deserve a ticket because I was breaking the law. But when police departments start doing “ticket quotas” and harassing people for no reason, then I have a problem! I am surprised that the newspaper and TV stations have not picked up on this yet. Well I have! Here’s the full video from ReasonTV, prepare to be shocked!
Related articles
- Cop Fired for Speaking Out Against Ticket and Arrest Quotas (financialsurvivalnetwork.com)
Categories: Interesting Stuff, News Talk Stuff
So to meet their revenue goals, they can just triple the fines for “speeding,” “jaywalking,” “failure to recycle,” and any other revenue statutes they can dream up, and you see no problem there? Being that a geek is someone of above average intelligence and insight, I’m not sure you qualify!
Your geek status should be revoked. Geeks possess above average intelligence and insight. You are the type who applauds the tripling of fines for speeding, jaywalking, and even failing to separate your recycling properly. The entire American municipal system is corrupt, if this tax feeder’s attempted confession doesn’t help you see that, you’re hopeless.
The police don’t set the fines, the lawmakers do. Here in Alabama, fees for state business and some fines are high because the poor get hit harder than the rich. And I have talked about that before on this blog. Most police are just following the fines the lawmakers set.
No, my geek status should not be revoked. The entire American municipal system is not corrupt. Yes, there is some corruption here and there, but not everyone is corrupt! In Alabama, I support setting taxes more fairly so the rich and the poor pay their fair share, not like it is right now. But as long as the people keep electing these crazy lawmakers in Alabama, nothing will change!
The city should publish their statistics for tickets. If you compared ticket and fines revenue for the last five years and see a noticeable increase, then it is likely true that they are corrupt. If in fact the trends are lower, then they are telling the truth. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, but I am betting that the city won’t share that data.
You are right! But many governments don’t like sharing data. Unless another media source gets the information, we will never know. Thanks for commenting!