Dateline Whittier — Six Whittier police officers have filed a retaliation lawsuit against the City of Whittier for refusing to participate in a traffic ticket-and-arrest quota system the officers claim is illegal.
The lawsuit alleges that the Whittier Police Dept. imposed an unlawful citation and arrest quota in violation of California Vehicle Code Section 41600 on its officers.
City Manager Jeff Collier said that since it is a pending lawsuit, “the city does not have any comment at this time.”
The plaintiffs, Officers Joseph Rivera, Jim Azpilicueta, Anthony Gonzalez, Steve Johnson, Nancy Ogle and Mike Rosario, refused to participate in the unlawful citation and arrest quota.
Mr. Rivera has been with department since 1995, Mr. Azpilicueta since 1999, Mr. Gonzalez, 2008, Mr. Johnson, 2006, Ms. Ogle, 1991, and Mr. Rosario since 2003.
The lawsuit alleges that, starting in 2008, the Whittier Police Dept. illegally compared officers, using shift average number of citations and arrests as a means of determining a benchmark for performance.
The department then retaliated against those who refused to participate, according to the suit.
The officers repeatedly complained about the quota up the chain of command to their immediate supervisors, their division supervisors, and to the Internal Affairs Division of the department.
Ultimately, they were subjected to multiple, repeated adverse actions, including negative and disparaging language and comments in their permanent files, unfavorable documentation, unwarranted counseling sessions and transfers, increased scrutiny, and threats of termination in official documents if they did not meet the quotas.
“The imposition of a ticket-and- arrest quota not only is a clear violation of state law, but a really bad approach to managing police officers,” says lead counsel Matthew McNicholas, a partner with McNicholas & McNicholas. “It prevents them from doing their jobs, to protect the public every day.
“It’s a shame that these officers’ careers have been materially and adversely affected as a result of the harm and damage conducted by Whittier Police Dept., when it was the officers who were actually doing the right thing.”
The lawsuit alleges physical, mental, and emotional damage and is suing for loss of wages and other economic damages.
Mr. Hews may be contacted at loscerritosnews.net