A 13-year veteran police officer in Texas has taken an unusual tactic to reform her department.
Officer Kayla Walker of the Richardson Police Department took the podium at a City Council meeting on April 19, 2021 and told council members that command staff are using quotas to evaluate officers. Quotas are against the law in Texas.
Walker told the council that officers who underperformed in the total number of tickets written, arrests made or contacts could be made to “suffer.” As reported by ‘The Wheel’ blog, “when asked what “suffer” meant, she says she was told it meant being placed on a corrective action plan with every-other-month inspections and meetings with command staff members, escalating to threats of “forced resignation.”
Walker stated, “The Richardson police department has been illegally using quotas to evaluate and discipline officers. Patrol officers are threatened with punishments for not writing enough tickets, arresting enough people and making enough citizen contacts.” She said this is done “under the guise of monthly productivity reports to compare officers to one another.”
Walker then asked for an investigation into the claims. She said she was representing several current and former officers.
The Dallas Morning News is now reporting that at a follow-up City Council meeting, City Manager Dan Johnson did initiate an investigation. “It compelled my office, in coordination with the city attorney and the police chief, to initiate a thorough review. This review will involve outside legal counsel, and it will be conducted in an orderly and expeditious way,” the paper quoted him.
The police department declined to comment and stated, “she’s obviously not following the chain of command on this.”
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