Opinions or Facts about "mandatory" documentation

[rebel167]

My department provides officers with warning citations. An email was sent department wide saying it was mandatory that for each traffic stop the officer must at least write the driver a written warning. Of course there's no law and we have no policy for this. I feel like the officer's discretion has been taken and this is strictly for statistical, political purposes. Any one have this issue or an opinion?? I'd appreciate your thoughts.

[WHC166]

Well, if the boss puts out the order it becomes policy, whether written or not. I prefer written warnings because they can be tracked and in my agency they are not required but strongly preferred. In all reality no discretion has been taken away because there is no difference between a written and verbal warning other than they can be tracked.

[Jimmyd6]

I would be interested to see if the amount of tickets written is down, thus less revenue coming in. It could be a ploy to get officers to think if I have to write a warning, I might as well write the ticket. I've heard of more bizarre ways in my time on the road but you never know.

[Rapax]

It shows what you are doing with your time and that you are not making B.S. stops. If you had reason to pull them then you have reason to AT least write a warning. My county keeps track of all warnings...that way you can see if the guy you have on the side of the road has been given a break before and for what.

[MountainCop]

We have the same policy - at least a written warning for every stop. Basically, this documents the PC for the stop on the off chance that someone you pulled over files a complaint or whines to the chief. It also statistically verifies that you are not targeting minorities (we have a block for "race").

In addition, a written warning (which I request they sign) has more impact than a verbal 'don't do it again'.

Lastly, it shows the higher-ups that I'm actually doing traffic stops.

IMHO, it doesn't bother me a bit.

[Narco]

another advantage to that is that if your agency is like mine, they track everything. all information on reports, tickets, warnings, FI cards, etc. is entered into a database. down the road if we are looking for a guy known only as "Robert" that drives a red F150 we've got the possibility of finding him via this database.

this information can later prove invaluable to your investigators. i never realized how helpful it was until i went to CID.