RICHARDSON, Texas — Editor's note: The video posted above is a WFAA report from 2021.
Two Richardson police officers have sued the city and senior police leadership on allegations that they have been illegally requiring them to follow a ticket quota system.
Officers Kayla Walker and David Conklin were the officers who filed the lawsuit. They also allege that senior officers have retaliated against them after they made public statements to the Richardson City Council and media outlets in 2021, and after they filed criminal reports with outside law enforcement authorities.
The lawsuit claims an outside legal investigation confirmed the illegal activities, but "remarkably claimed the quota policy was not illegal merely because it was part of a broader policy that included components that were not unlawful."
A Dallas District Court judge is being asked to "declare the ticket quota policy in violation Section 772.002 of the Texas Transportation Code that prohibits all formal or informal ticket quotas, order the Richardson Police Department to stop the illegal policy, and compensate the officers for the violations of their First Amendment right to free speech."
In response to the lawsuit, the Richardson Police Department sent WFAA the following statement:
Tonight, the findings of an investigation into an alleged ticket quota was presented to the City Council. The investigation will be placed on the RPD Transparent Policing page of the Richardson's Police Department website.
The Richardson Police Department does not have a ticket quota, nor will a ticket quota be allowed by me or any member of our organization. If words or actions state, or imply otherwise, any employee should promptly notify our Internal Affairs supervisor or contact me directly.
Furthermore, as your Chief of Police, I will not tolerate retaliatory or punitive behavior against any employee involved in these allegations, nor against those who participated in this investigation.
My expectations and the expectations of the community continue to be for our officers to provide traffic management strategies to best keep our community safe on our roadways and to do so with diligence and integrity.
Gary T. Little
Chief of Police
To view the investigation referenced by Chief Little in his statement above, visit the Richardson Police Department Transparent Policing page here.