It’s Official, The Hopkinton Police Department Sucks

From today’s Providence Journal (see the Projo for the whole article, I’ve just taken excerpts from it):

 Police have ticket ‘target’ in Hopkinton

By Bruce Landis, Journal Staff Writer 

If you drive through Hopkinton, keep this in mind: The officers you see are each required to write 20 traffic tickets per month, “more or less,” under a new Police Department policy.

Excuses, like being busy doing something else, or having taken vacation days, “are not acceptable,” Lt. Daniel C. Baruti said in a March 3 internal e-mail that spells out the policy.

The point of a police department is to enforce laws, not generate revenue for the town coffers.  But instead of cutting the Town budget and reining in spending, we’re trying to bilk the public out of more cash.  I guess we need to make sure the Municipal Court pays for itself!

The e-mail says, in bold, italic type, “Do not forward this e-mail.”

Clearly, the HPD is also stupid because if you put anything in an email, it will end up becoming public knowledge.  And the juicier it is, the more likely it will end up in the papers.

Baruti, Police Chief John S. Scuncio and Town Manager William A. DiLibero acknowledged Hopkinton’s policy after The Journal obtained a copy of the e-mail.

However, they denied that it amounts to a ticket quota. Instead, the lieutenant described the numerical goal as a “target.” He said he was surprised that the term “quota” has popped up. “I didn’t even think of the word ‘quota’ ” until a sergeant brought it up, he said.

A rose by any other name is still a rose.  So is a duck…

Baruti and the other local officials said that the policy is a management tool intended to make the police more productive. Although it has drawn some criticism, Baruti said, the policy is legal and that they have no intention of abandoning it.

Making up crimes and giving out unnecessary tickets is not an indicator of productivity.  Making up crimes to charge people with is criminal.

Baruti’s e-mail said that the department’s “production level” has fallen and that the town manager and some members of the Town Council “are very dissatisfied with our numbers.” He said he thinks a decline in the department’s ticket production reflects a lack of motivation.

Uh, duh.  We have too many goddamn cops and there is not enough to do.  It appears to me that the HPD is trying to justify their existence when in fact, there is very little justification for having 16 officers on the HPD.

The e-mail also looks ahead, saying, “The plan is to focus on traffic tickets to start. We will look at arrests and incidents later.” Baruti said that doesn’t mean setting targets for arrests.

Well that’s good!  I would hate to have the police show up to arrest me because they needed to arrest SOMEONE!

Baruti said it isn’t aimed at individual officers. DiLibero said, similarly, that he and some council members were concerned about a “lack of activity” by the police in general.

Once again, because there is nothing for them to do.

Scuncio, on the other hand, said the policy is aimed at a single officer who does practically no work. One example of his lack of effort, the chief said, is that month after month, the officer writes no tickets at all. The chief said the officer’s inactivity “really creates problems” because new officers “see this guy doing nothing.” He didn’t identify the officer, saying he didn’t want to single the officer out.

And this is not grounds for dismissal?  But then again, when the police chief is actually a member of the police union, things tend to a get a little “cozy”.

Chief Scuncio said the new policy hasn’t had the desired effect. “He still hasn’t written any tickets,” the chief said. “Nothing’s changed.”

And so you continue to promulgate the policy?  That’s pretty dumb, don’t you agree?

He said he’s reluctant to try to discipline the officer because of the difficulty under the legal and contractual protections provided to Rhode Island police.

Perhaps the Town should more aggressively negotiate police contracts in the future?  To prevent this from happening?  

Capt. David A. Ricciarelli, assistant director of the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy, said he knows of no similar policy in other departments. He gave several reasons why ticket quotas should be avoided. They are “publicly distasteful,” he said, and give the public a negative impression when the police depend on the public’s help to enforce the law.

Well, I guess Hopkinton is just special that way.

“A quota policy can only generate disrespect for, and cynicism about, law enforcement,” Brown [the RI ACLU Executive Director] said , and it suggests that “police enforcement is more about making money” than enforcing the law.

That’s OK Mr. Brown, we don’t have much respect for the HPD anyway.  This just gives us another reason to consider cutting their budget.

Thanks to Bruce Landis, this was a great article.  Someone is finally shedding some light on the crap going on in Hopkinton government.