Arlington Police Combing Records in Wake of Quota Speculation

The Arlington County Police Department's internal affairs section is combing through all of the agency's documents as part of the fallout from an internal memo that caused speculation among the public -- and the police -- that officers were subject to a quota system.

A March 1 memo officers were expected to make or else face the possibility of disciplinary action.

The day after the story broke, Police Chief Doug Scott held a news conference calling that memo "a mistake" and saying his officers were "embarrassed" by the attention it had received. .

"There is no month-to-month or day-to-day numeric quota system for our officers. And I want to be emphatic about that," Scott said last week.

Now, the department's internal affairs section is going through all policies, procedures, memos and other documents in order to make sure nothing in place can be construed or confused as a quota system, police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said.

"Their goal is to go through and reread any kind of policies that indicate anything along the lines of our expectations or guidelines, make sure they are worded correctly, so that it doesn't appear there is a quota system -- but still maintain some expectations," Sternbeck said.

"You can't just show up for work and do absolutely nothing."

News of the department's "proactivity expectations" listed in the March 1 memo is what led to speculation of officers being subject to a quota system.

Scott and Sternbeck maintain that the public expects officers to do their job and to be held to certain standards. The No. 1 concerns the department hears from the public are traffic-related, Sternbeck said -- things like speeding in neighborhoods or running red lights.

"The bigger picture here is, are we capable of providing a safe community to the residents, and are we actively engaged in police work? That involves being out there, doing traffic enforcement, going out into the community," Sternbeck said. "There's so many different aspects to the job. It's our responsibility to make sure we're protecting the citizens and community of Arlington County on a daily basis."