Explosive emails reveal Queensland cops set quotas for traffic stops

Senior police officers have been pressuring patrol units to write more tickets, explosive emails tabled in a court case have revealed.

The revelation comes amid a bullying case in the Queensland Industrial Relations commission being brought by a former Gold Coast cop, James Treanor.

As part of the proceedings, Treanor has tendered documents, including emails from senior members of the force, that appear to indicate a quota system for traffic infringements.

“Broadbeach as a whole is underperforming with regards to traffic enforcement,” senior cop Leanne Major is reported as telling officers in an email, according to the Courier Mail.

“We are GD (general duties) crews and there is an expectation that you WILL write tickets, and I don’t think 10 per month is an unrealistic expectation.”

Broadbeach officer-in-charge, Senior-Sergeant Paul Hunter, stated in another email that the fact that 16 officers had written just 15 traffic tickets between them in three months was ‘very disappointing’.

Police don't use quotas? Yeah, right

Emails from Runaway Bay officer-in-charge, Myee Arandale show that officers at the station were ordered to write at least five tickets for ‘LEOs” – meaning ‘life endangering offences’ such as speeding, running red lights and using mobile phones while driving.

“This is not hard given the amount of people on their mobile phones, speeding, running yellow or red lights and (doing) burnouts,” she added.

Treanor responded to fellow officers by quoting a statement given by then-Police Commissioner Ian Stewart who told media in 2014 that ‘there are no quotas … we don’t put quotas on our people’.

When contacted by The Sunday Mail about using quotas, a senior Queensland police officer denied their existence.

“It has nothing to do with revenue-raising, it’s about enforcing the law,” he said.

The explosive emails are the latest development of Treanor’s campaign against misconduct within Queensland Police.

Treanor was stood down from his role as a Senior Constable and stripped of his gun, badge, and uniform after an altercation with the Gold Coasts top cop, Assistant Commissioner Brian Wilkins.

The former Senior Constable was also charged with public nuisance after the alleged incident which took place at a mental health function in March. Treanor is alleged to have sworn at Wilkins after the latter is claimed to have referred to him as a ‘smart arse’.

Treanor alleges the incident is part of an ongoing pattern of bullying that was prompted when he complained of misconduct by fellow officers and became a union representative.

A hearing of the bullying case is set for September.

South Australian police were forced to issue an admonishing statement earlier this month after a manager purchased a gift card as an incentive for officers to hand out more fines.

“SAPOL has no quotas for the issuing of expiation notices and never has,” the statement read.

However, an email was sent to staff which offered “an incentive to the police officer who made the greatest contribution to road safety by way of Traffic Infringement Notice Expiations or Cautions.”

This was intended to prompt more activity during SAPOL’s ‘Operation Fatal Distraction', targeting mobile phone use while driving.