Internal emails detail pressure state police troopers faced to drive up traffic ticket numbers

Last year, as summer gave way to fall, a Maryland State Police barrack commander in Charles County didn’t like what he was seeing from his troopers. The barrack’s supervisors had agreed to require at least 100 traffic stops per month, as well as a handful of arrests, from every trooper. But the La Plata Barrack commander wasn’t getting the results he wanted, and he demanded more: more traffic stops, more citations, more arrests for driving under the influence.