Entrance to the State Legislature of Nevada in Carson City
The Assembly Government Affairs Committee was urged Thursday prohibiting law enforcement agencies from counting citations and arrests to rate police officers’ performance.
AB186 was introduced by Assemblywoman Rochelle Nguyen, D-Las Vegas, who said arrest and traffic ticket citation quotas damage the integrity of law enforcement. She said a number of other states have already enacted bans on quotas.
Eddie Ableser representing Nevada police unions, said the practice is often described as “policing for profit.”
“The practice does not adhere to the mission of keeping our communities safe,” he said.
And he said those citations and arrests for minor offenses often hurt society’s most vulnerable and underprivileged individuals.
AB186 would prohibit agencies from requiring a certain number of citations or arrests in performance reviews of officers and deputies.
Sgt. Troyce Krumme, a union representative who works for the Metropolitan Police Department, said the policing profession has too long relied on statistics. Instead he said management should focus on the services officers are performing in the community, not putting officers in the position of creating unnecessary contacts with the public. He said if some one is stopped for an incidental crime like jaywalking, “the gentleman thinks you’re just messing with them.”
Ableser and Krumme both said they have heard many stories from officers about being criticized during performance evaluations for not writing enough tickets and not making enough misdemeanor arrests.
Ableser said the issue is how to encourage agencies to add different metrics to their evaluation process.
Committee Vice-Chair Selena Torres, D-Las Vegas, agreed, saying, “evidence based policing is about preventing crime.” She said officers need to focus on positive community relations and, “stop worrying about stops.”
The committee took no action on AB186.
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