海角大神

Police ticket聽quotas聽are now banned in聽Illinois聽under legislation signed into law Sunday by Gov. Pat Quinn, a move supporters say will help restore public trust in law enforcement.

The law took effect immediately and applies to all local, county and state police departments.

It says municipalities and police departments cannot require officers to issue a certain number of citations in a certain period of time, and that the number of tickets that officers write cannot be used as part of their performance evaluations.

"Law enforcement officers should have discretion on when and where to issue traffic citations and not be forced to ticket motorists to satisfy a聽quota聽system," Quinn said in a written statement, adding that the law will improve safety and working conditions for police officers.

The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Andy Manar of Bunker Hill and state Rep. Jay Hoffman of Swansea, both Democrats.

"Arbitrary聽quotas聽on the number of tickets that have to be issued by police officers undermine the public trust in the police departments' priorities," Hoffman said. "By eliminating these聽quotas, we can restore that trust and ensure that police officers are free to do their job protecting the public."

Manar said聽quotas聽are an ineffective way to evaluate police officers' performance.

"It doesn't lead to better policing, it doesn't lead to better use of taxpayer money and it doesn't lead to better relationships with the community, all of which are challenges we face," Manar said.