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Friday, October 31, 1997

Ticket-writing contest creates uproar

SUGAR LAND, Texas (AP) -- A contest that offered a steak dinner to the police officer who wrote the most traffic tickets during an eight-hour shift is under investigation, authorities say.

The contest was apparently an attempt by a sergeant to motivate his patrol officers, but city officials quickly distanced themselves from the contest Wednesday.

Sugar Land Police Chief Earnest Taylor said such a contest is "completely and absolutely unacceptable and would not be tolerated."

City Manager David Neeley said the incident is under investigation and a decision on how to discipline the officer should be made by the end of next week.

Police officers are not judged by how many tickets they write, Neeley said.

"This was wrong," Neeley said. "It was a situation we don't condone or excuse."

The incident detracts from the many positive things going on in the police department, which has a stated goal of making Sugar Land the "safest city in America," Neeley said.

Sgt. E.C. Robins sent an e-mail to his officers Oct. 15, listing the number of traffic stops and the number of traffic tickets issued by each officer on the 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. shift on Oct. 12. There was a five-ticket tie between two officers.

The sergeant's memo said he was looking "for quality and not quantity and reserved the right to "pluck a feather" or take a credit away on a ticket he considered inferior.

The memo stated that one feather was plucked in the contest from an officer who wrote a ticket for failure to use a signal within required distance of an intersection.

Robins, who has been with the department about five years and was recently named a sergeant, did not return calls Wednesday, the Houston Chronicle reported.

City officials admitted there has been a recent move to increase traffic control procedures after a citywide survey in which 81 percent of those who responded said speeding and careless driving were problems in their neighborhoods.

But that doesn't mean contests should be used in the increased effort at enforcing traffic laws, officials said.

"Our job is to enforce the laws and ordinances of the state of Texas and the city of Sugar Land. Period," Taylor said.