Local News in Brief : Protesting Police Won’t Issue Tickets

The Manhattan Beach Police Officers Assn. said Wednesday that its members will stop issuing traffic tickets to protest a new, one-year contract forced on them by council members this week after negotiations stalled.

The union represents 49 of the department’s 58 officers. Four rookie officers who belong to the union but are still on probation will continue to write tickets, according to the group.

Last month, the department’s motorcycle officers issued an average of 104 traffic tickets, said Police Chief Ted Mertens. The city collects about $800,000 annually in traffic ticket fines.

The union said officers are staging the job action in an attempt to persuade city officials to go back to the bargaining table. At issue are wages and a provision in the new contract that officers say requires them to meet a ticket quota--a contention city officials deny.