Bulverde Ticket Quotas

Citation quotas are illegal in Texas. (Transportation Code Chapter 720 Prohibits Traffic Offense Quotas ) Don’t let that make you think for one moment that it doesn’t happen. Chapter 720.002 says that it is an offense, but there’s no criminal penalty.

“(e) A violation of this section by a person who is not an elected official is a ground for removal from the person’s position.”

Texas Transportation Code 720

Speed Trap?

The City of Bulverde has a long history as a speed trap in Texas. Blue Bulverde Patrol cars can be seen parked in the median of Hwy 281 running radar at all times of the day and throughout the night.

The Bulverde Report has obtained an actual email sent from a Bulverde PD patrol sergeant to two officers in which it says that their “stats are unacceptable” (translation: ‘you guys didn’t write any tickets’) and that they better get their ticket books and get busy”. Read the actual email here:

So if there’s not a magic number of how many citations to write… then there’s no “quota”, right? Bulverde’s Mayor Bill Krawietz has long defended the city’s reputation as a speed trap. However, watch the fur fly if an officer dares to turn in his paperwork at the end of the shift with no citations. That officer won’t have a long, productive career at BPD.

Rewards for the Most Tickets

Traditionally, the officers who seem to write the most citations, are the ones who get promoted at Bulverde PD. While that may sound like a stretch, we have obtained citation stats by officer, for the past 10 years.

Additionally, my sources tell me that it has been tradition at the Bulverde PD Christmas parties that Chief Haecker gives out Gift Cards to the year’s most productive traffic enforcement officer.

Officers who write a lot of citations are rewarded, and officer who write few citations are basically punished. To this writer, that sounds like a violation of the Texas Transportation Code 720.002

Here’s a PDF file that you may find interesting. This data was received by The Bulverde Report from an anonymous source. It shows the actual ticket count (and warnings issued) by officer from 2005 forward. You’ll notice that the top ticket writers for most years were promoted. Coincidence? I think not.