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Advocates and officers back bill to ban ticket and arrest quotas in Ohio
Summary
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Senate Bill 114, law-enforcement unions, advocacy groups and a former patrol commander testified in favor of banning ticket and arrest quotas, saying quotas undermine public trust, encourage low-value enforcement and can cause harmful personnel incentives.
Supporters of Senate Bill 114 told the Senate Judiciary Committee the measure would ban ticket and arrest quotas in Ohio and create an anonymous reporting mechanism to the attorney general for alleged quota use.
Emily Cole, executive director of Ohio Families Unite for Political Action and Change, said the bill would reduce unnecessary interactions between officers and residents and remove the incentive for departments to generate revenue through enforcement. "Productivity in a department should never be tied to police enforcement mechanisms," she said.
Representatives of law-enforcement organizations — including George Sokolakis of the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and Travis Parker of the Fraternal Order of Police — also supported the ban. Sokolakis said quotas are sometimes disguised as "performance standards" or "production expectations" and occur for reasons tied to revenue or to impress executives, rather than for public safety.
"Police officers, sheriff's deputies, and troopers are true professionals who risk their lives to serve our communities, not revenue generators," Parker said.
Leonard Mazzola, a former patrol commander from Independence, described how his career ended after he challenged a department policy he said imposed a 10-ticket-per-month performance standard. Mazzola testified the policy led to punitive discipline, an internal campaign to force his resignation, and litigation that settled in his favor in 2022. He told the committee the experience destroyed his career and damaged public trust in the department.
Witnesses praised language in the bill that would allow anonymous reporting to the attorney general, and they urged the committee to pass the bill to restore public confidence in policing decisions.
Ending: The committee heard multiple proponent testimonies and questions from members; no vote was recorded at the hearing.
