Emails reveal incentives behind Cottonwood police issuing tickets

KSL.com
Oct. 28, 2013

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — If you've ever gotten a traffic ticket, you know the sinking feeling you get when police lights pop into your rear view mirror. But what if you found out that citation could be tied to a police department ticket quota or prize contests?

A series of Cottonwood Heights Police Department emails from 2011 and 2012 have recently been revealed and they discuss such quotas and contests.

Some of the emails show police administration offering prizes to officers for writing citations like "free car wash coupons for the next officer to impound vehicles that have no insurance."

In another email, a contest announced a prize of gift cards to the officers who caught anyone tagging or spray painting graffiti.

[...]In 2011, the Cottonwood Heights chief of police sent an email ordering sergeants to monitor officers who are way below the "norm" when it comes to writing traffic citations, calling it insubordination, and promising to "send the love on down." In one email, a police supervisor suggested disciplinary action may be in order for officers not issuing enough tickets. The email states, "You should have written 36 or 12 per month — you have exactly one day to write 15 citations."

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