OGDEN, Utah — A group of Republican lawmakers have promised to take action after a FOX 13 News investigation exposed how the Ogden Police Department pressures officers to write more tickets.
The Utah State Legislature banned quotas in 2018, but Ogden PD says what it has is simply a “point system."
It’s a system some current and former Ogden PD officers despise. FOX 13 News spoke to seven officers who were too afraid to reveal their name or show their face on camera due to fear of retaliation.
The “point system” gives more points to officers who write more tickets and helps them get raises and promotions.
“They came out with a law saying a quota is illegal, so they just changed (the word) ‘quota’ with ‘point system,’” said one officer. “If that’s not a quota, I don’t know what is.”
Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, said using the phrase “point system” does not fool him.
He believes Ogden PD has an illegal quota.
“Watching the story made me angry... I voted for the bill five years ago, and I thought this was done,” Weiler said. “We have at least one police agency that’s basically ignoring the law.”
“I just thought it was a pretty lame excuse,” he added. “We don’t expect that from the people who are enforcing the law.”
Weiler said he was “a bit appalled,” “surprised,” and “outraged” with Chief Eric Young trying to justify the point system.
Now Weiler is promising to pass a bill to strengthen the quota ban. One of his ideas is to create a penalty for departments who try to skirt the law.
He doesn’t believe Chief Young’s claim that the “point system” has nothing to do with raising revenue.
“This policy is intentionally designed to violate the law or exploit a loophole in the law,” Weiler said. “(Ogden’s) per-capita ticket rate is almost 11x higher than Layton City, which is the next biggest city in the state.”
Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-North Ogden, said he’s not yet sure if anything needs to happen at the state level. Before making a decision, he wants to know if other police agencies have a quota or similar practice.
“If there’s a wider issue that we need to address, I’m certain that we will,” Wilcox said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what the Ogden City Council does, how the mayor responds.”
Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell has spent days not responding to FOX 13 News’ requests for comment.
Rep. Tyler Clancy, R-Provo, said he wasn’t happy with the direction some departments might be taking to skirt the law.
He was in college when the original bill was passed in 2018. Now he’s a patrol officer with Provo PD.
“I think leadership is saying, ‘The buck stops here,’” Clancy said. “It’s a horrible precedent to go down that road and say, ‘We’re just going to look at this from a numbers perspective.’”
Clancy said strengthening the ban on quotas will be one of his priorities moving forward as a freshman lawmaker.
Officers said they were thankful for any lawmakers who plan to revisit the issue, and they hope sharing their story will create change.
“I think the story will make a difference,” Weiler said. “It’s made a difference with me.”
We're still collecting data + explanations. Watch out for a story on this next week on @FOX13. https://t.co/KZy5fQAsgu
— Adam Herbets, FOX 13 ❌ (@AdamHerbets) May 19, 2023