In Ohio, the quota has officially gone the way of the dinosaurs. The meteor that led this particular practice to extinction was a new law that took effect on September 30. With the passage of this bipartisan legislation, the state joined others that have officially banned local agencies from using quotas.
State Representatives Kevin Miller and Bride Rose Sweeney sponsored the bill in the House of Representatives. The new law prohibits the use of quotas to discipline officers or evaluate their performance. It also directs the attorney general to establish a process for officers to report that their agencies are using quotas, and allows those reports to be made anonymously.
Quotas have long been a contentious issue in law enforcement. While some police administrators view them as a way to ensure officers aren’t loafing around on the job, they’re often used for more sinister purposes. Traffic fines and arrest fees are intended to deter criminal behavior and keep communities safe — not to generate revenue for local governments. Despite this, many municipalities include projected ticket revenues in their annual budgets. When police departments fall short of those targets, local officials face a choice: cut expenditures or “encourage” officers to write more tickets. Too often, mayors and city managers choose the latter, pressuring departments to boost revenue, and leaving officers to take the blame from the public.
The new law prohibits the use of quotas to discipline officers or evaluate their performance.
State Representative Phil Plummer, the former sheriff of Montgomery County, sees quotas as a hinderance to an agency’s ability to police effectively. “If you take away [an officer’s] discretion by mandating quotas and certain citations, it doesn’t bode well for police–community relations,” he told CBS news affiliate WKRC-TV.
The Ohio police unions seem to agree. The Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police all supported the measure. Daniel Leffler, the chief legal counsel for the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, believes the new law will improve trust between the public and police.
Not everyone is on board with the quota ban. Whitehall Police Chief Mike Crispen is among the administrators who sees quotas as a tool to ensure officers remain productive on duty. Writing on behalf of the Central Ohio Chiefs Association, of which he is president, Crispen argued that the “suggestion that supervisors who expect arrests are demanding ‘quotas’ is a misrepresentation of responsible leadership,” per The Columbus Dispatch.
This isn’t the first time Whitehall’s police leadership has been caught up in the quota debate. In August 2024, the Fraternal Order of Police accused the department of imposing ticket quotas and called on the city to conduct an independent investigation.
Despite the opposition from the chiefs association, the bill received widespread support from law enforcement officers. Leonard Mazzola, a former lieutenant at the Independence Police Department, testified to legislators that he was ordered to implement a ticket quota in 2018. He was forced by his department to undergo polygraph tests and interrogations to determine whether he had tipped off the media about the quota and was eventually forced to resign. Mazzola’s subsequent lawsuit was settled for nearly $1 million.
With the protections provided by the new law, stories like Mazzola’s will, hopefully, become a thing of the past.
