TALLAHASSE, Fla. – Pointing to a long-running controversy about a speed trap in the small North Florida town of Waldo, a Senate panel Wednesday approved a proposal to make clear that local police officers cannot have quotas for writing traffic tickets.
Sen. Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican who is sponsoring the bill (SB 264), said quotas have long been banned for state law-enforcement officers. But he said questions remained about whether the ban applied to local police.
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Along with clearing up that question, the bill would require cities or counties to publicly report if revenue from traffic tickets exceeds 50 percent of the costs of operating their law-enforcement agencies. Such disclosure could indicate whether local governments are relying on tickets to pay for police services.
"I think the more information, the better,'' Bradley said before the Senate Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously approved the bill.
Waldo, along U.S. 301 near Gainesville, was accused for years of being a speed trap. The issue ultimately led to the town's police department being disbanded last year after officers said they had been placed under a ticket quota.
The Florida Police Chiefs Association and the Florida Police Benevolent Association signaled support for the bill during Wednesday's meeting.
Bradley's district includes Waldo, which now gets police services from the Alachua County Sheriff's Office.