Your Mega Millions ticket probably didn’t win yesterday’s $640 Million contest, but if you received a ticket from the Connecticut State Police Troop I in picturesque Bethany, CT that Friday you may have helped the troopers win a “contest” of their own.

An internal State Police e-mail released by Connecticut’s WTNH News Channel 8 literally describes a “ticket writing contest” among the various Connecticut Police Barracks, with the email’s author extolling his colleagues at Troop I in Bethany to “do better” and write at least “60 infractions a shift” in order to show up the other troops throughout the Nutmeg State, especially those in Bridgeport and Middletown.

While I’m not a lawyer (not even a “non-Attorney spokesperson“) I’m thinking there’s no privacy is attached to the email: The State Police work for and are funded by the citizens, and the email doesn’t appear to compromise any on-going investigations. So, here’s the email for your consideration (click image to enlarge):

(source: WTNH.com)

No doubt this email is unfortunate: It lends credibility to something many people secretly suspect happens in police departments – ticket quotas ticket contests. (Update: Hartford’s CBS Radio affiliate WTIC AM 1080 reported April 3rd that an official review found no “ticket quota” system was in place. Such as quota is illegal in CT) Despite this apparent accidental lack of judgement by the email’s author, I remain convinced that the vast majority of people entrusted and sworn to enforce the laws of our land, including the author of the email, are honest, hardworking, upstanding, and moral. And, in nearly every situation these people discharge their responsibilities accurately and fairly without regard to a person’s background. Why? First, because a society without laws and their enforcement is anarchy, and second, because police are armed and I’m not

BTW: If your Latin’s a little lacking (mine’s non-existent), the title is from the Roman poet Juvenal‘s “Satire VI”, and translates to “Who shall guard the guardians themselves?” It’s from his story of a man who’s worried his wife will commit adultery during his long absence, and thus confines her to their house with hired guards stationed at the doors… only to wonder later who’ll stop the guards from having their way with his wife? Of course, guards taking advantage of women in unfortunate circumstances  never happens (pdf).

Thanks for reading!