Seat-belt crackdown has ticket quota

Associated Press/The Spokesman-Review | 5-8-03 | Unknown

[lilylangtree]

YAKIMA--The state begins another aggressive seat-belt enforcement campaign this month, with law officers expected to catch at least three lawbreakers an hour to receive overtime pay.

That's the way it worked during last year's "Click It or Ticket" blitz to enforce the then-new law, which made failing to wear a seat belt a primary offense, meaning officers could stop motorists for failing to buckle up.

Before, the violation could be written up on in addition to another offense.

"We're very passionate about enforcing the seat-belt law because it saves lives," said Capt. Glenn Cramer, a spokesman for the Washington State Patrol.

With incentives from the state Traffic Safety Commission, nearly 60 police agencies wrote 17,211 tickets during a two-month campaign last year and shared in more than $170,000 in grants. Nearly 400 officers were promised miniature replicas of their patrol cars for writing at least 40 seat-belt tickets.

But opponenbts of the law, which carries an $86 fine, say requiring officers to write a minimum number of tickets amounts to a quota and is poor policy.

"The police are under the gun to write as many tickets as possible," said Dan Goebel of Poulsbo, Wash., one of the promoters of proposed Initiative 836, which would repeal the law.

Many states forbid setting quotas of minimums for arrests or infractions for fear it can lead to poor quality police work that won't stand up in court.

In New Jersey, quotas for motor vehicle violations were eliminated three years ago after it was suggested there was a tendency for supervisors to punish officers who didn't meet the goals.

In Minnesota, the State Patrol may not "order, mandate, require or even suggest that a trooper issue a certain number of citations."

The Tennessee General Assembly is considering a bill this session to forbid quotas.

"Officers with quotas, in addition to everything else they have to do, tend to go for the easy citations," former Knox County sheriff's Deputy David Hunter wrote in a recent newspaper column. "That's why you see them in the same spot so often with their radar guns."

In Washington, state law doesn't prohibit quotas.

Angie Ward, program manager for occupant safety as the Traffic Safety Commission, said the requirement for three tickets an hour is written into the contracts between the commission and law enforcement agencies.

The contracts determine how federal safety highway grants can be used for enforcement of seat-belt laws under the "Click It or Ticket" campaign.

Law enforcement agencies have until Monday to apply for grants from a pool of $500,000 available for overtime for seat-belt enforcement.

Ward said that without a minimum number of documented infractions, the Traffic Safety Commission wouldn't know if the overtime was properly distributed. She called the minimum more of an expectation than a quota.

"We would never take away an officer's discretion," Ward said.

The Traffic Safety Commission has never not paid overtime because someone didn't meet the minimum number of tickets, she said.

In a Washington State Patrol memorandum issued last year, troopers were told that if they didn't make the minimum, they risked being removed from the seat-belt assignment.

Cramer said requiring officers to write a minimum number of tickets is not a quota.

"It's a statement of work expectation," he said.

Lt. Jim Keightley of the State Patrol's Union Gap detachment defended the minimum.

"I think it's reasonable for the Traffic Safety Commission to say, "We're giving you hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of several years to go out and make an impact on traffic safety," he said.

"They want some bang for their buck. They don't want someone to drive around for eight hours, do nothing and get overtime."

[lilylangtree]

HOWLING AGAIN IN OUTRAGE. Washington has become a police state courtesy of our RATS in Olympia. Up until 2002, RATS controlled the governor's office (still do), and both Representatives (still do) and Senate legislature. Quotas and rewards for giving out seat-belt tickets--Washington is turning into Nazi Germany.

[goodnesswins]

YUP....that's why were looking for property OUTSIDE of this state, as I'm sure many others are also.....where do you live lily?

[AppyPappy]

A liberal state restricting rights. But John Ashcroft is BAAADDD.

[Dan from Michigan]

I dedicate the song Money by Pink Floyd to the money grubbers out in Olympia(and Lansing for that matter).

[Eala]

Yup. Remember twenty years ago when the signs said simply, "Buckle Up, We Love You"?

Then we got a mandatory seatbelt law and were promised that one could never be pulled over for failing to wear the belt. The signs changed to the sterner "Buckle Up, It's The Law."

Now, the pols having broken their promise, it's the stentorian "Click It or Ticket."

Yup. WA is looking more and more like a police state.

[PetroniDE]

Rule #27 in life - FOLLOW THE MONEY.

This is nothing more than a revenue source for the government.

[templar]

And most Americans still trust the government.....

Most Americans still attend public schools.

[Raymond Hendrix]

I never could understand why we pay people to harass us as we go about our business on the highways.

[Poser]

No seat belt laws for adults in NH. Live Free or Die baby!

[Random Access]

This click it or ticket thing goes on all over the country. Even Texas. There is no hope, we are doomed. Soon it will just be easier to send in a payment to the locals every month and get a sticker for your car that indicates you have contributed to the Police Christmas Fund.

[Normal4me]

ping

[TheMightyQuinn]

You may be more correct than you know.

When i lived in Bellevue, Washington, I received a phone call from a police officer as part of a campaign to raise money for the police force.

He told me about that if i made a $50 contribution, i would get a little card saying that i donated to the police force.

He then said, "If you show this card to an officer in a certain sitution, it can really help you out, if you know what i mean."

Hmm, i wonder what he meant.

[Bob Buchholz]

I am glad to hear that the state of Washington has finally stopped all rapes, murders, reckless drivers, assaults, DUIs, robberies, muggings, wife-beatings, purse snatchings, truancies and other crimes so that they can finally devote their full attention to the serious crime of failing to buckle a damn seat belt.

[WASH]

With the fast growing "anti-automobile movement" happening on the West Coast, you won't need to worry about seat belt laws.

[thetruckster]

"A liberal state restricting rights"

I'm not for restricting rights, but I am for promoting common sense actions. Would there be a need for a seat belt law if common sense prevailed?

We have seat belt laws in Texas, but not everyone follows them. My best friend's daughter is an example. She was thrown from tumbling vehicle and is still in a coma after six weeks now. Her two belted-in friends in the front seat? Bruises and scratches that have disappeared.

[goodnesswins]

She didn't follow the LAW? How sad.....that she didn't have the sense to buckle up.....how sad that even a LAW couldn't make her buckle up. How sad for her parents that they've lost their daughter...or seemingly so....but, I don't think the laws about buckling up have much to do with it....we can only protect our selves and others so much....then there's that Personal Responsibility thingy that comes into play. Prayers for your friends daughter.

[lilylangtree]

East of the Cascades in Spokane.

[Petronski]

I wear my seatbelt religiously (as an amateur part-time stunt driver, it is a necessity), but I think this 'quota' policy is disgusting and irritating. On the other hand, it is nice to see the policy exposed. There ought to be an investigation and sanctions. There oughta be a law!