Crime & Safety

Ask a Trooper: Do Officers Have a Ticket Quota?

Washington State Patrol District 1 spokesman and recruiter Guy Gill answers your questions about the rules of the road.

Q: Is there such a thing as a ticket quota in the Washington State Patrol?

A: The answer is no. This is our job and it’s no different than any other – WSP officers work for a day’s pay. We don’t always write tickets and we give lots of verbal warnings. If an officer does give a verbal warning, it is documented. Every officer has discretion.

Not everyone is going to get a ticket. Our goal is to educate the public and sometimes our presence is enough to change someone’s behavior.

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All of our data is tracked, with audio and visual recording. Every stop we make, we track in a document. We record the time, location, offense and whatever the outcome is. 

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Trooper Guy Gill is the Washington State Patrol recruiter and spokesman for District 1, covering Pierce and Thurston counties. Follow him at @wspd1pio on Twitter. 

What have you always wanted to ask a state patrol officer? Tell us in the comments.


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