Florida Official Pushes Back On Reports of Highway Patrol Ticket Quotas

The head of the Florida agency that oversees state’s highway patrol insists troopers don’t have ticket quotas.

Terry Rhodes on Tuesday told Gov. Rick Scott and members of the state Cabinet that her agency is reminding all supervisors that quotas are not allowed. She says the reminder is being added to the highway patrol’s training materials.

Rhodes, the executive director of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, is making the changes after it was reported that a top official with the Florida Highway Patrol told troopers they aren’t writing enough speeding tickets.

The Tampa Bay Times reported earlier this month that Maj. Mark Welch told troopers under his command via email that “the patrol wants to see two citations each hour” adding that it’s not a quota.

He said it’s “what we are asking you to do to support this important initiative.”

Under the SOAR – Statewide Overtime Action Response – initiative, troopers can make extra money by working the road.

Welch noted the 5 percent pay raise the Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott recently gave troopers, adding it “has also increased your overtime rate.”

State figures show troopers wrote 934,965 citations in 2014 compared to 749,241 last year.