Just the Ticket – Sand Springs Police Department Increases Productivity and Safety with the Intermec CN50
To serve and protect is just one of the many things the Sand Springs Police Department (SSPD) is tasked with on a daily basis. As the department’s officers report to work each day, citations are just one of the many ways they keep their population of 19,000 safe. But beyond safety, citations are also a way the city generates revenue.
Previously relying on an outdated manual process, officers would complete a hand-written five-carbon copy citation. The violator would get one copy, and the rest would be distributed to various police, court and city personnel for repeated entry into multiple other computer systems. This process caused a lot of redundancy, administrative time and wasted effort, as citations were often lost in the shuffle or dismissed due to illegibility – causing citation revenue to go uncollected.
In short, SSPD looked for a technology solution that would offer increased officer productivity and an improvement in officer safety by getting them off the roadside faster.
The answer? An eCitation solution coupled with the Intermec CN50 rugged handheld mobile computers.
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How e-Citation Systems Increase Productivity & Revenues While Improving Officer Safety
Electronic citation (e-Citation) systems represent one of the most succcessful uses of mobile and wireless technology in public safety operations. Electronic citation systems have earned high user satisfaction ratings from state highway patrol agencies, police departments, parking authorities and campus security organizations across the country because of their well-proven ability to save time for officers, improve safety while issuing tickets, reduce errors and illegible tickets, and improve collection rates.
The only significant obstacles to more widespread use of electronic citation systems are insufficient awareness, understanding and budgets. This white paper will provide the background information needed to pursue an e-Citation initiative, plus benefit data and tips to help win funding for it.
e-Citations in Action
The Snohomish County (WA) Sheriff’s Office experience with electronic citation systems is typical. Deputies in the traffic unit each used to write about 12 to 15 paper citations a day. Each citation took four to five minutes to write, and a similar amount of time back at headquarters to enter into the computer system. With 20 traffic deputies working on a typical day, the sheriff’s office collectively spent between 43 and 47.5 hours daily writing and entering citations.
Snohomish County switched to creating citations on handheld computers, which produce a copy for the offender on a vehicle mounted printer and automatically download the citation information to the headquarters computer system without manual data entry. Productivity – and citation revenue – have since soared.
E-Citation Printing
Industry Need
With increasing pressure on budgets, police and municipal operations are driven to increase productivity and revenues; citation programs pose a common target due to the high-touch environment. Adoption of e-citation among public safety agencies is rapidly increasing due to a quick ROI driven by increased accuracy, legibility (yielding decreased dismissals) and reduced or eliminated manual data entry. However, the ticketing environment has significant performance challenges. Hardware components such as computers or printers as well as citation media must often operate in punishing environments.
The two common E-citation applications have significantly different media requirements.
For parking and local ordinance violations, the citation must endure challenging service conditions. Vehicles are commonly unoccupied, requiring the parking enforcement agent to secure the ticket to the vehicle, often under a windshield wiper. These tickets are directly exposed to rain, snow, wind, and sunlight, conditions which can rapidly degrade common materials. Quick completion is a priority for efficiency; when agents encounter owners returning to a citation in progress, rapid execution is critical.
The time required to issue a citation is also important for moving violations. Drivers commonly complain about the time consumed when being cited. Additionally, exposure to moving traffic poses a safety hazard to both parked vehicles and officers, making rapid citation processing a top priority. While print quality requirements remain high, durability needs are lower since the printed citation is delivered directly from the officer to the driver.
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McAllen Police Department Reduces Dismissed Tickets by Half
E-Citation Produces More Legible Tickets, Increases Revenue
About McAllen Police Department
The McAllen Police Department (MPD) serves the McAllen, Texas, metro area, with a population of about 130,000. Just five miles from the U.S.-Mexico border and the Mexican city of Reynosa (with a population of 500,000), the city’s size can grow by 200,000 to 300,000 commuters each day. The MPD employs 272 sworn officers and approximately 380 total employees.
Challenge
Like many police departments, MPD had long issued hand-written paper tickets to offenders. The manual process left room for errors in two places:
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- Point of issuance—Handwritten ticket information could be incorrect or illegible.
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- Municipal court—Administrators occasionally entered dates, locations, license numbers, or license plates incorrectly.
