Two Colorado Springs motorcycle police officers claimed they wrote more traffic tickets than they actually did — a fib that is costing the El Paso County district attorney’s office money.
The Police Department told District Attorney John Newsome and the city attorney’s office that the cops fudged paperwork, counting some tickets twice. Both have retired, said police spokesman Lt. David Whitlock.
He said he couldn’t name the officers because it is a personnel matter. Nor could he say whether they were forced to retire.
It isn’t clear why the cops claimed the extra tickets. Colorado Springs police aren’t required to meet a ticket quota, Whitlock said.
The two men overcounted tickets in January and February, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Diana May.
The DA’s office must notify all those ticketed that the cops misled the department on an internal document. Those who received tickets might be able to defend themselves by saying that the officers shouldn’t be trusted, May said.
“Our obligation is not to hide it but to disclose it,” she said. “We have to make sure that any information that can be exculpatory is made known, and we are committing a significant amount of resources to make it known.”
She didn’t know how much it will cost to find and contact those who received citations. But one DA employee is working overtime to do so.
Because the cops never wrote a phony ticket or lied on an official document, they didn’t break the law and won’t be charged, May said.
