Police pressure for DUI and ticket quotas still surfaces

police DUI – Even as at least 26 states and Washington, DC ban police departments from enforcing ticket or arrest quotas, cases and firsthand accounts show pressure can persist—sometimes through explicit expectations, sometimes through incentives or enforcement practices t

The day after Brianna Longoria married in December 2024, a stop in Phoenix turned into an arrest she says she never expected—and into a lawsuit she worries could take years.

Longoria was pulled over by a police officer in Phoenix. She took a breathalyzer test and believed the matter would end there. Instead, officers arrested her for driving under the influence of drugs. What followed. Longoria says. is captured in body camera footage showing officers discussing what they needed to make the numbers work.

In the recording, Anette Hannah can be heard saying she “can’t just conjure one up. I have tried,” as she struggles with the prospect of producing a DUI. Mary Metheny—the officer who initially stopped Longoria—responded, “You can. You can.” Another officer is heard worrying she would get kicked off the squad if she doesn’t “get a DUI.”.

The charges against Longoria were dropped, but she filed a lawsuit against the officers and the city of Phoenix. She says the ordeal stripped away money meant for her honeymoon in New York and forced her to miss a doctor’s appointment after she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer—because she had to appear in court. Longoria also fears a DUI arrest on her record will make it nearly impossible to become a nurse. “It’s been impossible not to stress,” she said. “I just want my life back to normal.”.

Phoenix Police Department spokesperson Mercedes A. Fortune declined to discuss the specific details of Longoria’s case but said the agency “does not have DUI quotas.” Fortune also said DUI enforcement assignments are based on operational needs. and that officers must base their actions “on observed driving behavior. indicators of impairment. and the totality of the circumstances.” The city has denied all allegations in its response.

Longoria’s story sits inside a wider national debate over whether police departments can be pushed—by leaders. supervisors. or informal incentives—into meeting arrest and ticket targets even when explicit quotas are illegal. Across the country. laws prohibiting quota enforcement exist in a patchwork that still leaves room for pressure to take other forms.

At least 26 states and Washington. DC have laws prohibiting police departments from enforcing ticket or arrest quotas. according to the Brennan Center for Justice. The rules vary widely. Some apply only to certain kinds of policing, such as traffic tickets. Others bar explicit quotas outright. A 2021 analysis by Shaun Ossei-Owusu with the University of Pennsylvania Law School found the patchwork differs state by state.

The shifting language often matters. New York passed an anti-quota law in 2010. but the New York Police Department faced claims that officers were still pressured to meet “performance goals” tied to arrests. tickets and stops. In 2013. former district court judge Shira Scheindlin wrote. “It is difficult to see any difference between a performance goal and a quota …”.

Advocates argue that if expectations produce the same behaviors as quotas, the harm is the same. Alexandra K. Block, director of the ACLU’s Criminal Legal System and Policing Project, said: “And it should happen quickly.”

Some police leaders oppose the bans, particularly when quotas are framed as tools for setting clear expectations or evaluating employees. That tension is visible in how even anti-quota messaging can create uncertainty for supervisors. The Central Ohio Chiefs Association said in a statement on new anti-quota legislation that if an officer makes no arrests all year. and a supervisor takes note and addresses it. it could be seen as imposing a quota.

A common claim also circulates in law enforcement: that ticket-writing surges at the end of the month when officers rush to “make quota.” Researchers say that idea may be more myth than routine.

A study co-authored by Griffin Edwards. a professor of economics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. examined state highway patrol officers. When a quota was in place. the number of tickets issued tended to peak near the middle of the month; without a quota. ticket counts stayed relatively consistent throughout the month. Edwards said. “I think our research is interesting in that it does. at the very least. dispel this rumor of ticket counts

going up near the end of the month. ” he said. Former New York Police Department officer Jillian Snider recalled the rumor she heard when she was on the job. “I’d actually have people screaming out the window at me. ‘Oh no. it’s the end of the month. everyone move their cars because the cops are out. ’” Snider said. When she joined the NYPD more than 20 years ago. she said officers were expected

to make a certain number of arrests and write a certain number of tickets for traffic or parking violations.

Snider tied those expectations to personal career outcomes. saying meeting benchmarks could help an officer move into a more specialized unit or secure a request for time off. She also said those expectations could affect how officers responded to low-level offenses. She described the possibility that an officer might choose between a stern warning and a full-fledged arrest—especially during winter months when street crime activity slows.

Those pressures, Snider said, also strain community relationships with police. She has since retired, but she described how the dynamic played out in the day-to-day relationship officers formed with residents.

Even when explicit quotas are outlawed, some departments have found ways to keep pressure alive. Edwards’ recent analysis found that when several states passed laws restricting police quotas, the rate at which state highway patrol officers issued citations actually went up.

Maryland offers one example of how incentives can surface. In October. the Baltimore Banner reported that in Maryland—where arrest and citation quotas are prohibited—troopers in one barrack were offered candy bars as an incentive to make more traffic stops. The report said the revelation came three years after the outlet reported troopers statewide were being told that certain numbers of traffic stops and DUI arrests could result in greater rewards like new vehicles. while lower numbers could trigger disciplinary action. Maryland State Police spokesperson Elena Russo said the candy box was purchased by a commander without approval and removed. Russo said “MDSP policy strictly prohibits the use of quotas when setting expectations or when assessing a trooper’s performance. ” even if the incident did not place quotas on any trooper.

In Illinois, state Rep. Patrick Sheehan—who worked as a law enforcement officer—said current law prohibits police from establishing quotas for citations. but departments can get around the restriction by pressuring officers to make a certain number of “contacts. ” meaning stops that might not result in tickets. Sheehan said he has bipartisan support for a law intended to address what he described as a “dirty little secret” in the state. When asked if he had ever had to meet such quotas. Sheehan said. “I would prefer not to comment on that. just for fear of retaliation.”.

Advocates for reform argue quotas are not just annoying targets—they can force officers into decisions that increase risk for everyone. California attorney Matthew McNicholas. who said he has handled half a dozen lawsuits from officers who faced quotas in recent years. argued that quotas are not only illegal but dangerous. “When you establish quotas – under the law – then police officers start falling all over themselves to make sure they write the quotas. and then they start taking chances they otherwise wouldn’t take on a motorcycle because their livelihood now depends on it. ” McNicholas said.

The impact, according to critics, can extend to civilians. Chicago resident Eric Wilkins said he avoids certain areas of the city because he believes police target them to satisfy alleged traffic stop quotas. Wilkins. Black and Latino. said he is more likely to be stopped and subjected to use of force than white drivers. citing data described in a lawsuit he filed against the city. Wilkins said he is stopped once or twice a year on average, including at least one time after he sued. He described the emotional toll of those encounters as ranging from embarrassing to terrifying. “Will I go home, or will I go to jail, or will I get killed?” Wilkins said. “Those are the things that instantaneously go through your mind while the officer’s behind you.”.

For Longoria, the effect was personal and immediate. In her lawsuit. she said her de facto DUI quota pressure led to her arrest. which upended her life long after the court dropped the charges. With litigation ongoing and the case expected to take years to resolve. she said stress has followed her at every step. Fortune said the department’s position is that DUI enforcement assignments are tied to operational needs and observed driving behavior. indicators of impairment. and the totality of the circumstances.

In the end, the controversy around quotas may hinge less on whether a department uses the word “quota” and more on what officers are pushed to achieve, and what that pressure does to decisions made in moments that feel—like Longoria’s—both sudden and irreversible.

police quotas DUI arrests ticket quotas Phoenix Police Department body camera Brianna Longoria ACLU Brennan Center for Justice Griffin Edwards state highway patrol Maryland State Police Illinois contacts Matthew McNicholas Eric Wilkins