By: Randy Wimbley
POSTED:MAR 17 2016 11:46PM EDT
UPDATED:MAR 18 2016 01:40PM EDT
Are certain drivers targeted more frequently by police than others, it's a bold allegation from a Michigan State Trooper.

Craig Tuer is a 20-year veteran with the Michigan State Police Department and says if some people of color - black men in particular - feel police are constantly stopping them or following them, it's not a coincidence or their imagination. It's by design.

"Now the police I do not believe for a minute are inherently racist, but the policies that are put in place reward a racist behavior," said Tuer.

In an email to the state department of civil rights, Craig Tuer wrote those policies have led to racial profiling.

He says it starts at the top, with commanders getting bonus pay for their post's performance, then troopers getting overtime for court appearances or jail runs and a floating quota system used for state troopers' performance evaluations.

For instance if a post averages 100 tickets from traffic stops, a trooper needs to bring in 70 to remain in good standing.

"If I give too many breaks, if I fall below the 70 percent now my performance rating is lowered and now I have a post commander that's lowering his money he's got coming in," Tuer said. "Now I become a target."

And Tuer claims troopers are trained to target minorities, because they may be under-insured, under-licensed and impoverished, so they're less likely to get a lawyer to fight a traffic stop in court.

He also claims troopers search for drivers they can cite for multiple violations. Troopers call them "daily makers."

http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/109458270-story