AUBURN, Ala. - A former Auburn police officer said he was fired after complaining about a ticket quota, but city officials said there was never a quota.
Former officer Justin Hanners told WSFA-TV that officers were supposed to have 100 contacts a month, with 40 percent of those being warnings. The rest were divided among traffic citations, non-traffic citations, arrests and field interviews. He produced a recording where he said the 100 contacts were outlined for police.
"When you set a quota, you make the officers lower their standards," he said.
City Manager Charles Duggan said the police department has not had a quota.
"However, the message that there is a quota was wrongfully conveyed through supervisory channels to at least one patrol shift. When this was brought to the attention of police administration last fall, supervisory personnel were reminded of the appropriate way to communicate shift duties including enforcement of traffic laws," he said in a statement.
The city manager said the police chief also made it clear that the department does not require quotas.
He said the department hired Bob Eddy, a former investigator with the state attorney general's office, to conduct an investigation, and he found no wrongdoing. He said he could not discuss why Hanners was fired about three months ago, but his allegations about the firing are false and unsubstantiated.
Hanners, who is married with two children, said he remains unemployed, but he would do it again. "We are not going to go hungry," he said.