Supervisors testify in trial of ex-officer accused of writing fake tickets

Posted on October 7, 2015

By Joe Ragusa

BLOOMINGTON – Testimony continues Wednesday in the trial of former Bloomington police officer Brenton VanHoveln, who is accused of writing fake tickets to meet a quota.

Sgt. Randy Craft said officers were required at times to put nonemergency calls on hold so they could meet a ticket quota. The state has since banned the practice of quotas.

VanHoveln is accused of writing compliance tickets that were never actually issued and then voiding the tickets within a week. Compliance tickets are given to drivers for minor offenses that the driver has seven days to fix, like a broken tail-light or driving without your license on you.

VanHoveln is accused of writing the fake tickets between January and February 2014.

The defense argues the prosecution can’t produce the alleged fake tickets and that invalidates the charges filed against VanHoveln. The defense also says the matter should be a disciplinary issue within the department, not a criminal case.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].

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