Seal Beach : Police Productivity Policy Is Under Fire

City officials on Friday said they will investigate a controversial policy that sets productivity standards for police officers, but one that critics contend has established an illegal quota for writing tickets and making arrests.

“If it’s true, I would hope that we shouldn’t be doing this type of thing,” said Mayor Frank Laszlo. “I imagine we will have to look at it and get more information from the chief.”

Police officials have come under criticism since issuing a memorandum on the policy, which has been in effect since Jan. 1.

“I got 10 calls this morning, first thing,” Councilwoman Marilyn Bruce Hastings said.

The policy, affecting only patrol officers, measures their effectiveness in writing tickets for moving violations, parking citations, field interviews, arrests and warrant service, according to the Police Department’s attorney.

The memo states that any officer “whose productivity . . . is designated as being below 80% of the adjusted watch average . . . will be subject to formal corrective discipline and/or formal specific plan to improve his/her performance.”

The department’s attorney defended the memorandum, which he described as part of a larger effort to foster better work habits among officers.

“This is one small part of a total package of productivity objectives,” said Martin Mayer, special counsel to the department.

“It’s like a Catch-22,” Mayer said. “On the one hand, public employees get faulted for not working hard enough. On the other hand, we get it for establishing productivity guidelines. We’re literally stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

Sylvia Kellison, attorney for the Seal Beach Police Officers Assn., agreed, saying that the policy was designed to instill motivation in officers and give them a gauge for their own work habits.

“A majority of employees like it because it gives them feedback,” Kellison said, adding that the six-month trial period is up and the department is revaluating the program it to see if it will be retained.

Some law experts warned, however, that the policy is best left off the books.

“It’s just a straight quota,” complained Ron Talmo, dean of Western State University College of Law in Irvine.

He said that under state law, any system that judges officers’ performances by setting either a number quota or a proportional quota is illegal.

“They are in for trouble,” Talmo said.