A speeding ticket quota at Florida Highway Patrol? You decide

[Ethical Trooper]

Really? The memo says nothing of a "quota" but a goal. So many complaints of such low pay, yet don't want to work for the money. Do you really think a raise will come when you all are sitting on your asses in resteraunts, milking crashes and finding any other way to do nothing? You want more money and get pissed when you are called out for not doing what you are getting paid for. Hypocrites, snow flakes, lazy asses, whiners, temper tantrum throwing toddlers........Do your job, and if you don't like it, move on.

Officers are killed every day. We earned that check when we left the house.

Well, I would like to say that I personally have seen a lot of Troopers (Coworkers) working hard. Being self motivated, being a poster child for what we all expect a Trooper to be. They put the uniform on and really make a difference. But I also see them getting under paid and underappreciated. They do the job and hope one day the pay raises come. I have never seen one of them that would not help someone. But I also see them get rode on for activity. It’s really not fair for the Brass to speak with forked tongue. We need to get back to making contact with the public. Not everyone needs a citation. Some people need guidance. I have been doing this a long time and like most Troopers we leave the house looking for violations. Some days every other car is speeding or doing something stupid and we deal with it but other days we patrol and guess what people are behaving. Some of the rural areas aew dead. So the Troopers will stop by places and put some personality into the job and meet people. This is the way we gain respect from the community. Not writing everyone a citation. Over a career a Trooper will write thousands of citations and he will have put his very life on the line each time so please sir whoever you are don’t think that we don’t work, or earn that check. But we ethical officers took an oath and any talk about numbers and it’s a quota. quo•ta noun
noun: quota; plural noun: quotas
1. a limited or fixed number or amount of people or things, in particular.

[Unregistered]

I was once questioned about my contacts. I worked four hours of SOAR and wrote four tickets and four warnings. I stopped four cars and gave a ticket and warning to each. So 8 total contacts. I'm good right. WRONG!!! I made all four stops in the first 45 minutes and used the rest of the time to work on a DUI packet I need to complete. I was basically told to write two an hour but to spread them out over the hour. I explained that 8 contacts in 45 minutes is more efficient then 8 in four hours especially if it allows me to finish a DUI report. They didn't see it that way and advised me two an hour every hour not two for every hour worked. They even went as far as to suggest that If I am capable of 8 contacts in 45 minutes then I should strive for 8 an hour.

[Unregistered]

I was once questioned about my contacts. I worked four hours of SOAR and wrote four tickets and four warnings. I stopped four cars and gave a ticket and warning to each. So 8 total contacts. I'm good right. WRONG!!! I made all four stops in the first 45 minutes and used the rest of the time to work on a DUI packet I need to complete. I was basically told to write two an hour but to spread them out over the hour. I explained that 8 contacts in 45 minutes is more efficient then 8 in four hours especially if it allows me to finish a DUI report. They didn't see it that way and advised me two an hour every hour not two for every hour worked. They even went as far as to suggest that If I am capable of 8 contacts in 45 minutes then I should strive for 8 an hour.

There's nothing wrong with getting question on activity or lack thereof. Big difference between questioned and disciplined. Most times, supervisors question because they have limited information, so after a discussion everything is cleared up. Also, soar wasn't designed to finish unrelated dui paperwork, so you aren't using the soar time effectively. Most troopers understand the problem with the "quota" issue but you seem to be trying to use it as an excuse for your shortcomings.

[Unregistered]

Just when you thought FHP couldn't get any lazier!

Whining about actually working when you're being paid overtime...sad!

Agree. We all know that the expectations of 2 tickets per hour for OT is nothing new.

[Unregistered]

See the real problem in this agency, is there are more Troopers who believe that this 2 an hour "quota" is ok than there are Troopers who believe things other than citations are an important part of public safety.

[Unregistered]

Having read the entire memo, it would seem that a "trooper" reading this memo could interpret it several ways.

One: if I don't get an average of 2 SPEEDING STUBS per hour of SOAR Paid work, I'd be less than satisfactory at the job.

Secondly: we're being paid time and half for SOAR so, be productive. And, r research and data suggest that in "hot speeding spots" there are enough speeders endangering the public it should take only an average of 30 minutes to observe, stop, and complete citations for at least one serious violator.

Third: reading between the lines of the memo that has been written with great care; knowing the writer's history/personality/legislation, I'm being told an average of less than 2 high speeding stubs an hour on SOAR will generate: first, counseling; next, punishment; and finally, no more SOAR-- that's a quota since it included punitive action for failure to meet the average.

[Unregistered]

It's time to abandon ship. This hitting the news almost immediately after all the talk of raises, does not show a positive light for FHP, in my opinion. I agree with a previous poster about how you are being paid time and a half OT to work. Therefore you must work. But the fact this has come out, the public needs clarification about the minimum requirement to collect OT and a quota. In my opinion, get rid of SOAR and pay troopers. Therefore there is no misunderstanding of quota talk but it's only for overtime. The public just sees quota.
Stay safe

[Unregistered]

Watch Big Belly's interview on the news and count how many times he says "I". I counted 21. They gave him a chance to stop talking but he kept yammering on!

[Unregistered]

of course the legislature comes out with that, they do not want to take any responsibility, it is not the popular opinion. They are only out for themselves.

exactly!!!

[Unregistered]

Someone has to go over this. Whether it's Welch, Thomas, or Spaulding. Rhodes is trying to hard to put out the fire that Welch ignited and Thomas fanned.

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.miami...166650242.html