Channel 2 Action News has obtained an email sent to Atlanta police that says
traffic ticket money will fund future pay raises.
An Atlanta police
source told
Channel 2’s Amy Napier Viteri there are concerns that linking
pay raises to tickets creates an indirect quota system, but the Mayor’s Office
and the author of the email insist there’s no push to write more tickets.
The email from police union President Ken Allen explains future police
pay raises will be funded through traffic tickets and court revenue. It comes on
the heels of the passage of the city’s budget.
“The mayor has designated
traffic court/ticket revenue for future pay increases ... (This is) the first
time ever that a revenue stream has been designated to salaries,” Allen told
officers in the email. “Future pay increases are in our hands. We need only
enforce traffic violations as we are now, but increase our attendance in court
to prevent cases being dismissed."
By phone, Allen told Viteri drivers
cited for ticket offenses are slipping through the cracks.
“A bunch of
people get out of legitimate traffic citations that have already been issued
that are beating the system based on how the system is running,” Allen said.
A representative for the mayor’s office iterated sentiments about
improving how the police department engages in traffic court, “especially
regarding operations and the collections process … There is no push to
increase revenues through the writing of additional tickets.”
But a
police source told Viteri the plan could make officers work toward increasing
citations, in hopes of a higher wage. Some drivers Viteri spoke to
agree.
“I’m probably going to switch from sales and join the police force
in that case, if that's the way it's working,” Ken Miller said.
Allen
said enforcement of traffic laws won't change.
An Atlanta police
representative said the department has not issued any directive for officers to
write more tickets, nor informed them ticket writing is directly tied to their
compensation.
