Categories: Local

Memphis Police Officers Ordered to Focus on Traffic Tickets or Face Reprimand

A police officer’s duties are typically cut and dry: To Serve and Protect. When an officer is asked why he chose law enforcement as a career, they almost always will say it was to help people. They get an adrenaline rush out of saving the day, making drug busts, locking up criminals, and getting the bad guys off the streets.

Memphis was listed as the fourth most dangerous city by Forbes’ in October 2012. Out of the year’s 157 homicides, only 16 were ruled as “justifiable”, or self-defense. Additionally, Forbes’ reported violent crime rates are up to 1,584 per 100,000 people. With these statistics, one would assume the number one priority in the city would be to prevent crime…

In the summer of 2012, police officer and firefighter salaries were cut by 4.6%. Some police officers joked they would simply write 4.6% fewer traffic citations. Incidentally, the number of tickets issued decreased significantly. In response, officers were then ORDERED to write tickets. They were rotated to the I-240 loop on schedules so that every officer was at some point on the interstate to issue tickets. Action News 5 (WMC-TV) reported the issuance of over 24,000 traffic citations in just 100 days, and none were “courtesy warnings” as they had been ordered not to give them out. The public was outraged. They assumed the officers were retaliating against the public for their pay cut. The city played dumb like they had no idea why there was an increase but said it was a good thing because of public safety. Karen Rudolph, spokesperson for the Memphis Police Department, was quoted as saying, “To make sure that everyone is safe coming home, going to and from work, and commuting through Memphis.” However, eventually the number of tickets issued eventually dwindled back down to the norm and the issue was forgotten.

On January 17, 2013, throughout the city, officers coming on shift were informed that they must make sure they are “producing” or face reprimand and an investigation into why they aren’t writing tickets. It will also affect future performance evaluations as well as limiting promotional opportunities. To quote an unnamed officer, a lieutenant in roll call (the meeting held between officers and supervisors at the beginning of every shift) said, “Low producing officers are going to be looked at.” This was a reiteration from a few days prior as they had been warned once already. “They are going to pull individual stats. If you aren’t producing, the director is going to call your colonel out. He’s going to call your major out. [Then] he’s going to put your lieutenant on the carpet…and then, you know you’ll be on the carpet.” (The carpet is code for big trouble.) Supervisors have even told officers, some who are making high numbers of felony and misdemeanor arrests but don’t write many tickets, that unless they get their “numbers” up, they’ll never get anywhere on the department. One particular officer with a high number of arrests, after getting this type of warning, increased his “numbers” (traffic tickets) and was finally promoted to a position in a specialized unit which he had been applying and previously denied.

What this means to the citizens of Memphis is officers are now being pulled from “fighting crime” to issue traffic tickets or they face suspension or possibly termination. The city or supervisors will not directly say the officers have to write more tickets… They simply call it “producing”. It won’t be found in writing anywhere either. The city and it’s politicians have also issued a “gag order” to all it’s employees in the form of DR-136 (Social Media Sites/Internet Content). Basically, anything posted publicly or privately on the internet is representative of the City of Memphis and can lead to a reprimand, suspension, or even termination. The city has even hired someone, if not more than one, to monitor activity on Facebook. Because of the threats and rules in place, the media will either not catch wind of this information to report it to the public, or they will simply refuse to report it without written proof.

It all comes down to money. While arrests get the criminals off the streets, they don’t create revenue. Traffic citations bring in money. Money apparently trumps safety in the eyes of Memphis politicians and department administrations.

To the citizens of Memphis: It’s not just the number of traffic citations that is going to increase. The crime rate is going to increase. Response times to 911 calls will be delayed. Officers will be left without partners, increasing danger to the officers. So, next time you see the blue lights and hear, “Do you know why I pulled you over?” just remember, you and the officer share a common enemy in this.