110+ Utah police agencies say they don’t use quotas or point-based evaluations

SALT LAKE CITY — More than 110 law-enforcement agencies in Utah have disclosed they do not use a quota or "point system" to evaluate officers.

It’s a sharp contrast to what FOX 13 News found within the Ogden Police Department last week: a culture that officers say pressures them to write more tickets.

In compiling the database below, FOX 13 News submitted requests with 90 police departments, 29 sheriff’s offices, and 2 state agencies under Utah’s public records law asking for “copies of all records explaining a quota system or point system used to evaluate officer performance based on the number of contacts, traffic stops, self-initiated calls, and/ or citations written by an officer.”

Amy Pomeroy, a criminal justice policy analyst for Libertas, said she was disappointed with Ogden PD but encouraged by the data from other departments.

Her organization helped write the bill that banned police quotas in 2018.

"(Ogden) really needs to think a little more creatively, and many agencies have done so," Pomeroy said. "They’ve found better ways to evaluate officers... Let’s have officers work on things that actually promote public safety as opposed to focusing on how many citations they need to get on a shift."

In response to the data, Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell said it's possible some of the agencies that responded to our request were not honest.

If so, that would be a violation of state law.

"Would you be comfortable with (Ogden Chief Eric Young) evaluating officers in a different way that doesn't use numbers, or tickets, or points, or anything of that nature?" asked FOX 13 News investigative reporter Adam Herbets.

"We're all ears as to what that would be," Mayor Caldwell responded. "I’ll put our chief and our department up against any other in the state in terms of transparency and fairness and clear objectives."

The following agencies stated they do not have a quota or point system:

• Alta Marshal’s Office
• American Fork
• Aurora
• Blanding
• Bluffdale
• Bountiful
• Brian Head
• Cedar City
• Centerville
• Clearfield
• Clinton
• Cottonwood Heights
• East Carbon
• Enoch
• Ephraim
• Fairview
• Farmington
• Granite School District
• Grantsville
• Gunnison Valley
• Harrisville
• Heber City
• Helper
• Herriman
• Hurricane
• Kamas
• Kanab
• Kaysville
• La Verkin
• Layton
• Lehi
• Lindon
• Logan
• Lone Peak
• Mantua
• Mapleton
• Moab
• Mt. Pleasant
• Murray
• Naples
• Nephi
• North Ogden
• North Park
• North Salt Lake
• Orem
• Park City
• Parowan
• Payson
• Pleasant Grove
• Pleasant View
• Price
• Provo
• Richfield
• Riverdale
• Riverton
• Roy
• Salem
• Salina
• Salt Lake City
• Sandy
• Santa Clara –
• Ivins
• Santaquin
• Saratoga
• Springs
• Smithfield
• South Jordan
• South Ogden
• South Salt Lake
• Spanish Fork
• Springdale
• Springville
• St. George
• Sunset
• Syracuse
• Taylorsville
• Tooele
• Unified
• Vernal
• Washington City
• West Jordan
• West Valley City
• Willard
• Woods Cross

• Beaver County
• Box Elder County
• Cache County
• Carbon County
• Daggett County
• Davis County
• Duchesne County
• Emery County
• Garfield County
• Grand County
• Iron County
• Juab County
• Kane County
• Millard County
• Morgan County
• Piute County
• Rich County
• Salt Lake County
• San Juan County
• Sanpete County
• Sevier County
• Summit County
• Tooele County
• Uintah County
• Utah County
• Wasatch County
• Washington County
• Wayne County
• Weber County

• Utah Highway Patrol
• Utah Transit Authority PD

The following police departments disclosed a numerical performance metric used to evaluate officers:

• Brigham City
• Draper
• Ogden
• Perry
• Roosevelt
• Tremonton

Those cities provided the following additional context.

Brigham City

• According to the “Career Path Advancement Checklist, Master Officer Checklist,” officers must average eight hours per work week of self-initiated activity.

• According to Chief Chad Reyes, self-initiated activities include “business security checks, extra patrols, citizen contacts (such as helping a resident with shoveling snow, assisting a stranded motorist, or investigating suspicious activity), etc. It does also include traffic enforcement assignments, but there is no requirement an officer issue a citation. Even verbal warnings for traffic offenses are acceptable for credit towards self-initiated activity."

Draper

• Draper PD disclosed it does not have a quota or point system, but the department has a “daily productivity log.”

• According to Draper PD, the agency does not have a policy regarding the daily productivity logs; “These daily logs are more of an information pass-along to the next shift on duty.”

Perry

• Officers are expected to maintain an average of three traffic stops per shift.

• Officers are expected to maintain an average of three self-initiated cases per shift.

• “Failure to maintain these average minimum standards will be cause for disciplinary action and will negatively reflect on one’s performance evaluation,” according to department policy.

• According to Chief Scott Hancey, the department’s policy and practice is not contrary to state law because the statute defines a “Law Enforcement Quota” as “any requirement or minimum standard regarding the number or percentage of citations or arrests made by a law enforcement officer.”

• Chief Hansey stated the criteria “does not require an officer to issue a certain number of citations, but simply ensures traffic safety is a priority of this department... Our policy requires traffic enforcement

Roosevelt

• Chief Mark J. Watkins has a verbal policy in place requiring “at least four contacts with citizens during a shift... but there is no expectation that this contact results in a citation, unless the officer deems it necessary."

Tremonton

• Tremonton PD expects officers to “issue citations commensurate in quantity with other officers,” according to the “Performance Evaluation” form for patrol officers,

• Tremonton PD expects officers to “make quality arrests and detentions with numbers comparable to other officers,” according to the “Performance Evaluation” form for patrol officers.

• According to Assistant Chief Brian Crockett, the department takes an average of what all patrol officers write for citations as a group per year; “If the individual officer is below, above, or at average they are rated accordingly.”

• The form lists four possible grades per category:
  
  • Requires Improvement
  • Meets Standards
  • Exceeds Standards
  • Demonstrates Excellence

• “We let them do what they are good at, they might score low in one area but high in other areas, so their evaluation will even out,” said Assistant Chief Brian Crockett

Representatives from the following cities and counties explained their thoughts and alternatives to numbers-based policing:

Cedar City: “We believe that such metrics may not accurately reflect an officer's effectiveness in fulfilling their duties and serving our community. Instead, we prioritize comprehensive evaluations that take into account various factors such as community feedback, teamwork, and critical thinking skills.”

Farmington: “As the department has grown, the ability to track (points) became, in my opinion, unmanageable as well as making sure any particular officer was policing with the right purpose rather than just for stats. We only evaluate an officer’s performance on a quality of service basis, not quantity.”

La Verkin: “We have nothing in regard to this style of policing and do not base officer performance on stats. We base officer performance on community solutions and engagement.”

Lehi: “Firstly, we do not have a quota for any officer to write any number of citations; that would be illegal. Officers are asked to stay busy and be in contact with the public as much as possible; that can be them just simply speaking with someone who is mowing their lawn, interacting with others at the gas station while fueling up or getting a drink, talking to kids at their lemonade stand or one of many other interactions that can take place during an officer’s standard patrol shift, which can include conducting traffic stops, whether they issue a warning or a citation.”

North Ogden: “The closest thing we have to recognizing officers for self-initiated activity is an annual Proactive Officer of the Year award. This takes into account any self-initiated activity including traffic stops, business checks, park patrols, stopping to help a stranded motorist, stopping at a local elementary during recess to interact with the kids, and anything else that is self-initiated.”

Riverdale: “A number of factors are considered to evaluate an officer’s productivity, with the main factor being the service they provide when responding to calls for service and the follow up they conduct to resolve calls for service. Officers are encouraged to be productive and proactive when they have free time.”

Roy: “Mr. Herbets, the Roy City Police Department does not use quantitative tools in the form of quotas or point systems in determining officer performance for their annual evaluations. All officer evaluations are conducted using qualitative tools and or analysis... We evaluate officers on their Quality of Work, Dependability, Professionalism, City Core Values, Judgement, Initiative, and Interpersonal Communication, etc. This list is not exhaustive but serves to give you an idea as to how we evaluate our officers at Roy PD.”

Smithfield: “In compliance with (77-7-27), the Smithfield City Police Department does not implement nor use, a quota or point system, to evaluate officer performance.”

West Jordan: "Chief Wallentine views 'quota' as a four-letter word... The City of West Jordan has explicitly banned the practice of placing ticket quotas on officers. The West Jordan Police Department is focused on developing officers with an outward mindset. By placing an emphasis on empathy, education, and community engagement, our officers have the discretion to prioritize public safety through problem solving and working collaboratively with the community they serve."

Iron County: “(We do) not have a quota on citations, nor do we have a point system to evaluate a deputy's performance. We have annual evaluations based on the following: Job knowledge and performance, work habits, cooperation, adapting to change, communication, dependability, initiative, integrity, learning ability, productivity, quality of work, safety awareness and problem-solving capabilities."

Utah County: “If somebody doesn’t write any tickets, we’re going to want to know why... That information is available, but there’s not a program or point system where that information is tracked. They're not required to get to a certain number. We do look at numbers, but there's no set value or criteria."