Justin Hanners was a police officer in Auburn, Alabama who joined the force to “serve and protect”. He had been there for over five years, but his idea of serving and protecting, however, didn’t match the concepts of his new superiors. A new police chief arrived in the town in 2010 and the department entered the shady world of ticket quotas. Hanners was fired from his job after he refused to hassle, ticket, or arrest people simply to meet a quota.
“When I first heard about the quotas I was appalled,” said Hanners. “I got into law enforcement to serve and protect, not be a bully.” The former police officer added, “There are not that many speeders, there are not that many people running red lights to get those numbers, so what [the police] do is they lower their standards.” Hanners pointed out that the quotas led to the department encouraging police officers to arrest people that Hanners “didn’t feel like had broken the law.”
Hanners would not keep quiet about the department’s quota system and learned a lot more about being a whistleblower firsthand when he was fired from his job for refusing to comply. Hanners stated that each officer was required to make 100 “contacts” each month. Contacts include tickets, arrests, field interviews, and warnings. Reason.com points out, “This equates to 72,000 contacts a year in a 50,000 person town.”
Hanners has audio recordings of his superiors discussing the quotas. He repeatedly stated his concerns through his chain of command. The police department claimed the requirements are necessary for increasing productivity. The police chief Hanners singled out retired this month claiming it was due to medical reasons. A Facebook fan page to support Hanners, titled, “Citizens Behind Officer Justin Hanners” has gained over 5,000 likes in its first day.
Video of News Interview
.aaaand another good cop (whistleblower) goes down in flames..
