We know what you're thinking. Three cheers for the House! It's about time somebody put those money-grubbing public officials and police departments in their place.

It's hard to argue in favor of traffic ticket quotas. Nobody, with the possible exception of town treasurers and police supervisors, likes them. Police officers don't like being told how many warnings they have to issue and how many tickets they have to write. And the mere mention of quotas makes motorists angry. It's like the entire town is conspiring against you.

But hold up on the hip, hip hoorays for our hypocritical Legislature. While it's hard to argue for traffic ticket quotas, it's even harder to argue for a bill that bans them. The House doesn't want police supervisors telling officers how to do their jobs, so what do they do? They pass a law that tells police supervisors how to do their jobs.

Plus, if you think about it, quotas make sense. Apply the principle to any other industry. Then ask yourself if it's unfair for a manager to require a certain level of production from an employee.

Would it be wrong for an editorial page editor to require an editorial writer to write an editorial or three or four a week? Is the head custodian out of line if he makes a janitor sweep the floor a couple of times a day? Does it seem obscene for the strip club owner to ask a dancer to take it off once in awhile?

Strike that last one. It's a bad example. But you get the idea.

As unsavory as ticket quotas seem, it might be the only way for the chief of police to keep the cops out of the donut shop.

And let's remember why they write those tickets in the first place. They're protecting the public. They're making our highways safe. The cop writing the traffic ticket isn't the public nuisance. The guy with the lead foot is.

As unsavory as ticket quotas seem, it might be the only way for the chief of police to keep the cops out of the donut shop.