Reader Fred Ray sends word of a Florida police chief who should be a “diversity” consultant, or a college admissions officer.
Despite the fact that Florida law prohibits any law enforcement agencies “from establishing a traffic citation quota,” Green Cove police chief Robert Musco sent out a memo to his officers stating:
After assessing the April Statistics it was obvious I had not made the department’s expectations for an Officer’s monthly activity known. Thus, following is a list of my expectations for the minimum activity for each patrol officer/supervisor each month.
1) Approximately 2 UTC’s for each shift worked.
2) Approximately 2 traffic warnings for each shift worked.
[A U-T-C is a uniform traffic citation]
When asked about this inconsistency, the chief replied, “I want to assure everybody that we’re not into quotas here. Basically we’re into enforcing the law and insuring the public safety.”
The chief made the fatal mistake of saying what he actually meant. What he obviously should have said, of course, as any practicing “diversity” consultant or college admissions officer would already know, is that the two UTCs and two traffic warnings were only “goals,” not “quotas.”
Actually, he got it right, John. He used the right weasel word. “Approximately.” In Michigan, they argued that because they said “approximately” rather than “exactly,” it wasn’t a “quota.”
Everyone knows they mean exactly the same thing — but traffic tickets are unpopular, while diversity is popular. (Or, rather, it’s superficially popular, since supporters of diversity can silence their opponents by screaming racism.)