From the L.A. Times:

Participating in sports such as football, weightlifting and boxing has long been part of the culture within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. But deputies have recently been playing some new games — on-duty enforcement competitions that have police watchers across the country crying foul.

One recent competition, described in an internal Sheriff’s Department e-mail obtained by The Times, was called “Operation Any Booking.” The object was to arrest as many people as possible within a specific 24-hour period.

Other one-day competitions have included “Operation Vehicle Impound,” a contest aimed at seizing as many cars as possible. And another challenged deputies to see how many gang members and other suspected criminals could be stopped and questioned.

Fortunately, it’s all on the up-and-up, according to Lt. James Tatreau, who said his deputies “were pumped and excited” and that he “never got any negative feedback. It’s not a quota or review system. It’s a morale booster.”

The Sheriff, Lee Baca, has apparently put an end to this, but the fact that it happened in the first place is what ought to concern people. Joe Friday these guys ain’t.