CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- The Chesterfield County Police Department’s top brass requires its officers to conduct three traffic stops and one arrest per day or face disciplinary action.
That news spread quickly at Chesterfield resident Michael Kriz’s office on Tuesday.
“Yeah we talked about it at work today; I wonder what happens if nobody does anything wrong that day?” Kriz said.
Kriz and his colleagues were not the only ones talking. Thousands of CBS 6 viewers shared and commented about the investigation into Chesterfield County’s traffic stop and arrest mandates, and many wondered if the money generated by traffic tickets goes back into the department.
“It's either about public safety or revenue generation,” Kriz said.
“It`s not coming back to the Chesterfield County Police Department," said Lieutenant Colonel Dan Kelly. "No, we don`t get that money."
Retired Chesterfield Police Commander, Steve Neal, said officers do not give tickets to get money.
“The fact that a police department issues a lot of traffic summonses does not necessarily correlate with the amount of money they would receive for them,” Neal said.
In fact, Matt Harris, the Assistant Director in Chesterfield’s Budget and Management Office, said part of the ticket dollars go toward the county’s general fund, which is used to pay for a number of county services.
The other portion goes to the state.
Regardless, Kriz said he is still uncomfortable with the department’s police and wants change.
“I hope they do something,” Kriz said.
