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State troopers have once again provided FITSNews with supposed evidence of illegal quotas being peddled within the South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP).
The latest receipt came after first sergeant Matthew Johnson announced the installment of “activity audits” within Troop Three (Anderson, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg), one of seven SCHP companies charged with enforcing traffic laws in the Palmetto State.
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?#BREAKING: State troopers have once again provided @FITSNews with supposed evidence of illegal quotas being peddled within the South Carolina Highway Patrol (#SCHP).
— Andrew Fancher (@RealAndyFancher) January 2, 2025
The latest receipt came after First Sergeant Matthew Johnson announced the installment of “activity audits”… pic.twitter.com/gvWutycgJI
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“Troopers are being judged solely on their ‘activity,’ which is code for issuing tickets and warnings,” wrote a highway patrolman. “Worse, supervisors are being punished if they fail to pressure their troopers to meet these quotas… There is, in fact, a quota system in place,”
As FITSNews founding editor Will Folks has incessantly emphasized, S.C. Code of Laws § 23-1-245 prohibits the use of quotas by leaders within public safety agencies.
“Our command staff knows that most news outlets won’t investigate them,” concluded a highway patrolman. “But every time FITSNews reports on these issues, it helps alleviate our jobs for a moment… because they get scared of getting caught.”
SCHP did not respond to our request for comment.
This story may be updated.
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JOHNSON’S EMAIL…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
(Dynal Nolan/FITSNews)
Andrew Fancher is a Lone Star Emmy award-winning journalist from Dallas, Texas. Cut from a bloodline of outlaws and lawmen alike, he was the first of his family to graduate college which was accomplished with honors. Got a story idea or news tip for Andy? Email him directly and connect with him socially across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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13 comments
Is there a provision in the law which makes quotas illegal in SC, for charges and penalties against Command staff and Supervisors who violate the law? If not, someone in the Legislature needs to take the bull by the horns and add such provision.
If there is such a provision, then someone (maybe FitsNews) needs to file a complaint with SLED and get that ball rolling. As I understand it, SLED investigates nothing until they get a complaint.
Our Legislature won’t due a damn thing. They don’t get tickets.
Highways or die ways, no quotas do not save lives. Think about it.
The Hitler Youths finest hour!
Wow the first sergeant is lacking in basic linguistics. Looks like a 3rd grader wrote it, my apologies to 3rd graders. When Mark Keel was over Public Safety he fired those responsible for this behavior. As soon as he went back to SLED the good ole boys took back over and hired most of them back. Second in command at the SCHP got his job because he set the record for writing the most tickets over a period of time
Sounds like a command sick of lazy cops.
I don’t see any evidence of a quota as defined by 23-1-245 (2) “quota” means a fixed or predetermined amount. Also, 23-1-245 includes: (B) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a law enforcement agency, department, or division from evaluating an officer’s performance based on the officer’s points of contact.
What data was being collected in spreadsheet? I don’t see a problem with supervisors monitoring their employee’s activities to make sure that we taxpayers are getting a days work for a days pay.
River and Been there, done that, all we need is a bunch of cops, pressured by command staff to make a lot of borderline chickenshit cases. When one of you or your family is on the receiving end of a ticket, please let me know how much you approve of the Command staff’s quotas. As you may or may not realize, every time a ticket with points is written, the cash register in some automobile insurance office goes “KA-CHING”. If the recipient is you or a member of your family, you know where that extra dough the insurance company rakes in for the next three years is coming from, right?
Look at the 600 something bogus DUI cases that drivers in Tennessee have been subjected to.
The email I saw didn’t say tickets but activity. I’m assuming that’s warnings and tickets combined.
I stand by what I said, sounds like a command that’s sick of lazy cops. I see reckless drivers all over and wish there was a trooper to stop them. I want my tax dollars going to troopers stopping this behavior aggressively. And I’m not worried about a ticket, don’t drive after drinking or with disregard for traffic laws.
I don’t agree with the approach to improve work, sounds ignorant to have you first line supervisors tied up with “activity audits”. If command can see the activity numbers themselves (obviously they can because they found a problem) then why tie up your first line supervisors with audits. This type of management can only breed animosity. A better approach would be to get out the office and work with the troops.
Show me evidence of “Command staff’s quotas”. I’m more worried about the aggressive drivers passing me at 90 mph and the drunk drivers hurting or killing my family than I am about a family member getting a ticket. The way people are driving now a days, an officer should have no problem writing plenty of well deserved tickets and then warnings for lesser violations. I agree that there should not be quotas and that an officer shouldn’t be penalized for not writing them, but tracking what a lightly supervised officer is doing during their work time seems reasonable whether they are arresting drunk drivers, writing tickets, writing warnings, assisting motorists, investigating accidents, or assisting at another officer’s accident scene.
Not sure why Fitsnews isn’t letting this post go through, but trying a second time here.
Observer, show me evidence of “Command staff’s quotas”. I’m more worried about the aggressive drivers passing me at 90 mph and the drunk drivers hurting or killing my family than I am about a family member getting a ticket. The way people are driving now a days, an officer should have no problem writing plenty of well deserved tickets and then warnings for lesser violations. I agree that there should not be quotas and that an officer shouldn’t be penalized for not writing them, but tracking what a lightly supervised officer is doing during their work time seems reasonable whether they are arresting drunk drivers, writing tickets, writing warnings, assisting motorists, investigating accidents, or assisting at another officer’s accident scene.
Agree brother or sister. I always thought a troopers main focus was stopping cars for bad driving. If troopers aren’t doing that then why are our tax dollars paying them so much?