A jury on Thursday, Sept. 7, awarded $2.8 million to a former Riverside (CA) Police Department motorcycle officer who sued after he said supervisors retaliated against him because he spoke out against what he alleged were ticket quotas, his attorney said.
The lawsuit was filed in 2019. Shawn Casteel retired from the department in 2022, his attorney, Matthew McNicholas, told the Press-Enterprise.
Casteel said supervisors prevented him from being promoted, caused him to lose overtime opportunities and pay and wrote negative evaluations after he protested. Casteel also said his health suffered as a result.
Section 41600 of the state Vehicle Code says law enforcement agencies may not require officers to make a specific number of arrests or write a specific number of traffic or parking tickets. Also, agencies may not compare the number of arrests or citations by one officer against the totals of another in evaluations.
