POLICE UNION SAYS LAPD HAS QUOTAS.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

The Los Angeles Police union accused LAPD management Thursday of backdooring a quota system by rewarding officers who exceed expectations with time off and punishing those who fall behind.

Officials with the Los Angeles Police Protective League will file an unfair employee relations practice claim today against Los Angeles Police Department management.

``It's a legitimate concern that we have because it simply exposes officers to too much liability for their actions,'' said Enrique A. Hernandez, the union's counsel, explaining that officers would be under too much pressure to write citations and make arrests that may not be necessary. ``You can't beat up a cop because he's not writing tickets or not putting enough people in jail.''

Union officials said the claim alleges that supervisors are unfairly - and illegally - rating performances on the number of arrests or citations issued by an officer over a 28-day deployment period and rewarding for punishing officers based on those numbers.

Union president Mitzi Grasso said an increasing number of officers have complained and that, in one division, a board charting officers' productivity said ``your requests for days off will be based upon your productivity.''

LAPD police commanders denied any such reward or punishment system based on productivity.

``I think it's ludicrous,'' said Deputy Chief Ronald Bergmann, the top cop in the San Fernando Valley. ``Our people are rated on a total picture of all law enforcement activities. I'm surprised by this claim.''

The news comes three weeks after the Daily News reported that Valley commanders were pressing patrol officers to write more traffic tickets to help reduce the high numbers of speeders. The increased enforcement comes as authorities grapple with ways to tackle traffic collisions, the most frequent public-safety problem handled by officers in the Valley.

Normally, officers in patrol cruisers write about one or two tickets each month, police said, while motorcycle officers handle the bulk of the traffic duties, writing up to 19 traffic tickets a day.

Union officials received isolated complaints of supervisors leaning on cops who don't put up impressive ``numbers,'' but at no other time have they received so many complaints from several divisions, they said.

Grasso said a number of officers feel they have unduly received negative evaluations based on numbers.

``What it does is, it further lowers morale,'' she said.

Grasso said the issue with the productivity board came out of the Hollenbeck Division, on 1st Street, just east of downtown L.A.

But Hollenbeck area commander Capt. Paul S. Pesqueira says the allegations are untrue and that he's seen no sign of it.

``No supervisor has informed me that that is their policy. I wouldn't permit it,'' he said. ``What really drives deployment is crime and calls for service.''

But one Hollenbeck officer said many officers feel pressured to write tickets just to get good reviews.

``I can't give warnings anymore,'' said one officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ``I have to give citations. If I don't, I don't get the days off that I request.''