Raleigh, N.C. — Raleigh Police Chief Harry Dolan issued a lengthy statement Wednesday defending a new performance evaluation program that grades officers by counting the number of activities they perform on duty.

The Teamsters Local 391, which represents the Raleigh Police Protective Association – an interest group of nearly 600 officers – on Tuesday called the new Priority Performance Measure Evaluation System a "troubling, arbitrary, quasi-quota system."

In his rebuttal, Dolan said that under the previous program that 90 percent of employees were rated as "outstanding" – the highest possible level.

"I would agree that our employees do remarkable, often courageous, work, but a measurement program that produces such results has room for improvement and leaves room for public skepticism," he said.

He denied that the new program is a "true quota system," as alleged by the union.

""It is perfectly understandable to question change or to become anxious about a transition to revised performance measurements," Dolan added. "However, to refer to the utilization of the fundamental neighborhood and police priorities below – which are additionally evaluated on the basis of quality of the service performed – as any form of quota is misguided"

Dolan instituted the new program on July 1.

The Teamsters contend that the grading system is not an accurate way to judge an officer's effectiveness and that it will hurt t morale and lessen "the department's ability to further reduce crime rates in the city."