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Police chief urges ban on arrest and citation quotas; committee favorably reports bill to rules committee
Summary
A police chief testified in favor of Senate Bill 114, which would prohibit arrest and citation quotas in law enforcement. Vice Chair Reynolds moved to favorably report the bill to the Committee on Rules and Reference; the clerk called the roll and the committee reported the bill with sufficient votes (tally not specified).
Robert Butler, police chief of the city of Independence, provided proponent testimony for Senate Bill 114, urging the Judiciary Committee to prohibit the use of arrest and citation quotas in law enforcement.
“Quotas undermine the very foundation of our profession,” Butler said. He told the committee quotas “erode public trust by creating an environment where officers are pressured to issue citations or make arrests, not based on the merits of each situation, but to meet arbitrary numbers.” Butler added that quotas can lead to mental distress among officers and damage community trust.
Butler testified that modern law enforcement leadership evaluates officers on the quality and impact of their interactions rather than numeric metrics, and he urged the committee to pass SB114 to “maintain the integrity of our profession and enhance public trust and promoting officer well-being.”
After the testimony, Vice Chair Reynolds moved to favorably report Senate Bill 114 to the Committee on Rules and Reference and the clerk called the roll. The committee recorded that the motion received sufficient votes and the bill was favorably reported to Rules and Reference; the transcript does not include a roll-call tally or member vote names.
The committee noted that written proponent testimony was available on members’ devices, and the proceeding was recorded as the fourth hearing on SB114.
