L.A. Approves $8 Million Settlement in Traffic Ticket Quota Scandal

To the officers who blew the whistle

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday agreed to pay nearly $6 million to a group of police officers who accused their superiors of imposing a secret traffic ticket quota system on the Westside.

The settlement, approved unanimously, brings to more than $10 million the amount of taxpayer money spent on payouts and legal fees from the ticket quota cases. But that number could grow because one more officer's case is still pending.

The ticket controversy has been a black eye for the Los Angeles Police Department. Ticket quotas are against state law. After the officers' allegations were made public, LAPD officials met with police union representatives and signed a letter emphasizing that the department prohibits quotas.