Butler maintained that the policy wasn't intended as a quota system, but as way to gauge whether the patrol was meeting traffic safety goals.

"Regardless of how our management tailors the job evaluation process, the Wyoming Highway Patrol's overriding goal will continue to be the vigorous enforcement of traffic laws which directly impact highway safety." Butler said.

"We are committed to curbing hazardous driving behaviors whenever it is encountered, with emphasis on impaired driving, speeding, distracted driving and failure to wear seat belts," Butler said.

Butler said it's standing policy at the patrol that troopers should pull over motorists when they see a violation of traffic laws. He said troopers have discretion whether that stop will result in a citation or a warning, but said, "when a seat-belt violation is discovered during a stop, it is our expectation that a citation will be written for that particular offense."

In reporting on the quota requirement in November, the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle quoted Bill Johnson, executive director of the Virginia-based National Association of Police Organizations, as saying that tying the number of traffic stops or citations to troopers' job performance assessments is dangerous.