LAPD patrols Figueroa and Exposition. Photo by Tom Dotan

The 11-1 decision validated Howard Chan and David Benioff’s claim that superiors instructed them to hand out at least 18 citations a day or face negative marks on their evaluation reports.

The lawsuit alleged that the veteran officers who worked in LAPD’s West Traffic division did in fact receive poor ratings because they refused to meet the quota. Gregory Smith, who represented the officers, said Chan’s motorcycle was taken away and received a pay cut for not complying with the mandate.

“What ended up happening was in order to meet this 18 number goal they had to write a number of speeding tickets and they had to do it through lasers.” Smith said on KPCC’s Patt Morrison show. “…they weren’t doing their duties. They weren’t pulling people over who were talking on their cell phones.”

Smith also argued that the need to give tickets out on streets that were radar capable kept the officers away from other beats that needed more patrolling. 

Attorneys representing the city insisted that no quota system was even in place, and all goals within the city were “broad-based” initiatives that are intended solely to reduce injuries and fatalities.

Ticketing quotas are illegal under California vehicle code, section 41602.

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