For local police, are electronic citations the new normal?

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

Improved efficiency and accuracy are driving police adoption of electronic citation systems.

Police in Pennsylvania’s Sugarloaf Township recently implemented a computerized ticketing system because it is easier, faster, reduces paperwork and errors, and keeps citizens’ private information more securely than paper tickets.

The department went paperless because the system improves accuracy and efficiency, gives officers more time to handle other police work and reduces storage space requirements, Police Chief Joshua Winters told The Standard Speaker.

Another Pennsylvania police department – Hazleton - went live with its version of the system in the first week of June, said Hazleton Police Chief Frank DeAndrea. Officers will enter traffic ticket information at the police station – rather than roadside -- because of the cost involved in outfitting its fleet with mounted computers, printers and scanners.

Sugarloaf Township and Hazleton are only two of the many police departments around the country using electronic ticketing technology. Some of these jurisdictions include Lexington, Tenn., which implemented its system in 2015; Little Rock, Ark., which launched its system in 2013; and Chattanooga, Tenn., which announced it purchased the technology in early 2015. The California Highway Patrol began testing an electronic traffic citations system in September 2011.

Before Sugarloaf Township’s electronic system, officers wrote out tickets by hand, which may have discouraged them from writing multiple citations because each offense required a separate ticket. According to Winters, each ticket must contain magisterial district judge information; the driver’s address, birthdate and name; vehicle information; owner information; charges; statutes; fines; and location, date, time and county of the offense; and the officer’s name, badge number and address.

Those tickets then needed to be dropped off at the court, and the information manually re-entered into the state’s court system. Poor handwriting and clerical errors caused additional issues. And officers then had to keep hard copies of hand-written citations for three years, a space constraint in small, local police stations. The new system, Winters said, eliminates paper, filing, data re-entry and multiple trips each week to the judge’s office to drop off the citations.

In addition to the software, two of the department’s four police vehicles are outfitted with a laptop, scanner and printer. Officers can then print a hard copy for the motorist and copies are immediately sent to the district judge and the police station electronically.

Police now can more easily issue multiple citations with an “add charge” feature instead of creating a new citation from scratch.  Officers also can look up ticket information; generate traffic reports, and find information by name, age, type of ticket, fine amount, location and time frame, Winters said. He envisions the same system being used to issue non-traffic summary offenses like violations for harassment, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and local ordinance violations.

The system also helps the court, said Sugarloaf Township Magisterial District Judge Daniel O’Donnell. Now staff only needs to download information, rather than type the citation information into their system, trimming the time needed to enter in information and reducing potential errors.

While administrative costs and efficiencies are a driving the use of electronic citation systems, they are not the only motivators. Safety is another. A key reason Maryland adopted the technology was to reduce an officer’s risk of death or injury from cars driving by while issuing a citation, according to Police Chief magazine.

In Oregon, electronic ticketing made the police more efficient, which then maximized the time they could spend patrolling the roads making the highways safer, Steve Vitolo, of the Oregon Department of Transportation, told Police magazine. He said he also believes they systems curb crime because officers can make more traffic stops. "The bad guys are driving cars," Vitolo said. "In Oregon, 80 percent of felony arrests occur because of traffic stops."

Local police agencies in Oregon began using electronic ticketing in 2004; in 2013, approximately 25 percent of the state’s police agencies, including the entire Oregon State Police, were using the e-citation system. According to  Oregon’s Governors Highway Safety Association, the technology has increased Oregon’s ability to analyze data, improve data accuracy and timeliness, foster data sharing and develop targeted responses to safety problems.

The hardware required to support any e-citation system could be dictated by state laws, noted PoliceOne.com. If the state requires a signature from the violator, then the officer will need a handheld computer that can capture it. Officers may need a scanner to scan a bar code on a driver’s licenses or a card reader for a magnetic strip on a license. Other options include a mobile printer and wireless access to transmit or receive data.

NEXT STORY: Michigan opens GIS portal

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.