Here's the proof that traffic ticket quotas are illegal

It’s a common belief that police officers have ticket quotas that they must meet, but in New York that’s illegal. More precisely, punishing someone for not meeting a ticket quota is illegal, which might make the whole thing moot. According to state law, officers’ superiors cannot even imply that something bad might happen if they don’t write a certain number of tickets, or conduct arrests or warrantless stops. There’s actually an update being considered that, if passed, would make it a class A misdemeanor to punish a police officer for not meeting a quota.

On its face, that’s strong evidence that quotas don’t actually exist. There are other reasons why there are seeming bursts of police activity in an area. Residents might complain about drivers speeding through a certain neighborhood, for example. There’s also targeted enforcement of laws such as the ones forbidding passing a school bus or texting while driving; these are often even announced in advance.

Human nature being what it is, there could be informal pressure or competition that drives what looks like surges in police activity. It could also have to do with nice weather.