D’Amico-Backed Law to Eliminate Tickets Quotas for Chicago Police

CHICAGO – Starting Jan. 1, a new state law supported by state Rep. John D’Amico, D-Chicago, will bar the City of Chicago from imposing ticket quotas onto Chicago police officers.

“Cops need to focus on protecting our communities, not meeting some bureaucratic goal,” D’Amico said. “Ticket quotas are not a tool to make our neighborhoods safer, but rather a tool to raise money unjustly from otherwise law-abiding citizens.”

Ticket quotas set a predetermined goal for traffic or municipal police officers to issue in during a given period. Opponents have criticized the practice as a measure to raise revenue that does not lead to effective policing.

Current Illinois law exempted the city of Chicago from legislation that banned ticket quotas. D’Amico’s legislation requires Chicago to align with the rest of the state in eliminating ticket quotas by police officers through Senate Bill 3509. Additionally, Senate Bill 3509 prevents Chicago from evaluating an officer’s job performance using citation metrics.

“Removing quota requirements allows police to better protect our communities,” D’Amico continued.
“Police officers need to focus on cracking down on serious crimes, not worrying about if they pulled enough people over for speeding to keep their job.”