[gozur88]

>The complaint is the practice of using those misdemeanors as a way to pad their productivity, and by extension their department's budget.

The evidence for that is spotty at best, and you're missing the point, which is cops won't write tickets (or make arrests) at all unless they're pushed to do so.

Let me add another example. Where I live there's a massage parlor every other block or so. Everybody knows these places are giving happy endings. If there are a hundred brothels (let's call them what they are) in the city, it's not unreasonable for the police chief to say to the vice squad "You have the manpower to shut down at least three of these places every month, so if that doesn't happen I'll want to know why." That's perfectly legitimate management.