Bonus ‘not directly linked’ to traffic tickets, city says

Number one of many ‘performance criteria’ for senior police officers

The city and its police department said Tuesday that senior police officers don’t get rewarded based solely on how many traffic tickets are issued by their subordinates.

But the city also confirmed that the number of tickets issued is one of several criteria used to evaluate the performance of higher-ranking officers.

“Everyone has the impression that bonuses are linked directly to the number of tickets, but that is totally false,” said Didier Deramond, assistant director of operations for Montreal police. “We have performance criteria to evaluate how our officers are doing. (Tickets are one part), but it’s not directly linked to the bonus.”

Deramond met reporters alongside Anie Samson, the executive committee member in charge of public safety for the city. They said the number of tickets issued is part of 18 criteria used to evaluate performance.

News of the bonus scheme leaked out on Monday. The TVA Nouvelles report said that the officers in a supervisory role — many of them commanders of neighbourhood police stations — are evaluated based on whether many tickets are issued by officers under their charge.

Deramond confirmed on Tuesday that there is a quota for the minimum number of tickets officers must issue.

“There is an objective per officer, absolutely,” Deramond said. “We have said that a few years ago, and we have kept that objective, so this is not news.”

The Montreal Police Brotherhood, which represents unionized officers, said the performance evaluation for superior officers is based on numerous factors, among them whether officers reached their minimum quotas for tickets. Senior officers are entitled to bonuses of between one and four per cent of their salaries for a satisfactory performance, between four and six per cent for very satisfactory, and between six and eight per cent for exceptional performance.

Yves Francoeur, the union’s president, called the bonus scheme “unethical” and said the city must abolish it.

Samson defended the practice, saying it’s a way for the city to know if officers are properly applying the Highway Safety Code.

“Applying the Highway Safety Code is part of the job,” she said.

She denied that this is a way for the city to fill its coffers, after complaining that police officers have been giving out fewer tickets in recent years.

Alex Norris, the Projet Montréal critic for public safety issues, repeated his call for the city to abolish the bonus system.

“We think this is wrong, and I cannot understand why the Coderre administration is sticking to its guns on this,” Norris said. “This is the type of program that undermines public confidence in the police and the administration of justice.”

I cannot understand why the Coderre administration is sticking to its guns on this. ALEX NORRIS, Projet Montréal critic for public safety issues