McKeever: No Police Quotas, Post Story 'A Disservice'

The City of Falls Church does not require that quotas for traffic tickets be met by its police officers, City Manager Dan McKeever said in a report to the City Council meeting Monday night. He said he was "surprised" by an article that appeared on the front page of the Metro section of the Washington Post in last Sunday's edition that made the claim.

McKeever said the headline of the story, "Ticket Quotas Required of Police: Practice Defended in Falls Church," was "a great disservice."

The Post article quoted Falls Church police officers Scott Rhodes and Markus Bristol suggesting otherwise. Rhodes and Bristol are the president and vice-president of the Falls Church Coalition of Police.

But McKeever denied that there are pre-set quotas. On the other hand, he said that the number of tickets written during a 12-hour shift is one of 12 to 15 factors taken into account in an evaluation of an officer's performance. He said that such "measurable statistical objectives" (MSOs) are routinely developed at the lowest levels of the department's chain of command in order that they most adequately reflect realistic expectations on the street.

"It is unfortunate that there are disagreements with employees and differences in opinion," he told the Council. "But this is handled through an internal process. We're working for a system that is fundamentally fair, and we'll get through it."

Asked if the Post article reflected a "widespread morale problem" in the Falls Church police department, McKeever said, "There may be some dissatisfaction, but it is not widespread now."

He said he was surprised the article appeared, noting a Post reporter who contacted him by phone suggested there may not be enough news to the story to warrant its publication. "Maybe that was just a reporter's trap," McKeever mused.

The Post article quoted Officer Rhodes saying to a citizen at a traffic stop, "Did I write them (traffic tickets) because of a quota? Yes, I did." "They've set an unattainable standard," he added. Bristol was quoted complaining that he's been unable "to spend more time establishing contacts with the growing Latino community" because "I've got to get out there and write those tickets."

(Following McKeever's comments Monday, neither officer was able to return calls from the News-Press before press time).

McKeever said Monday that among the difficulties he and Falls Church Police Chief Robert Murray have in addressing officer disagreements is that "we have had one hand tied behind our backs." Namely, he said, under Virginia law, administrators are not allowed to meet or confer directly with any union. "We have to meet with officers on an individual basis," he said. "But we'll get through it."

He said the combination of MSOs developed to evaluate an officer's overall performance was linked to the change in City policy in 2000 concerning the utilization of performance evaluations for all City employees in establishing salary levels and raises.

As for the police department, he said, "We don't have a quota system. We look at the quality of summonses, a conviction rate, lower accident rates and other things."

He said another "litmus test" is the public's positive reaction to law enforcement in the City. "We receive almost no complaints," he said.