SUBJECT: E- Citation Project 

Date: April 5, 2006

“A Ticket to Efficiency”

The Post Falls Police Department, in conjunction with the Idaho Supreme Court and out local Court system, has begun pioneering a new Electronic Citation Program (e-citation) this week. The Post Falls Police Department has installed the e-citation technology in three patrol cars and has begun issuing e-citations using the system. This project will replace the traditional citation book with a computer and mobile printer.

The system works in conjunction with Mobile Data Computers (MDC’s) previously installed in all patrol vehicles in Post Falls . The e-citation system allows Officers to automatically populate an electronic version of the State uniform citation by scanning or “swiping” the barcode on the back of the driver’s license, obtaining pertinent, personal information. Once the citation is populated, with the information from the driver’s license, the officer can finalize the citation with a few keystrokes. Once completed the officer can print a single page, easy-to-read copy of the citation on a portable printer located in the patrol car.

Once issued, the e-citation is simultaneously, within seconds, transmitted to both the local Court and the Police Department, via wireless technology. The data is automatically updated in both the Court and Police Department’s records management systems without user intervention.

This program, the first in Idaho , will allow the Post Falls Police Department to meet its ever growing data collection and reporting requirements while virtually eliminating mistakes in content, providing a timely, accurate, complete, uniform, integrated, and accessible citation. As demand for services grows, better tools are needed to ensure that the Post Falls Police Department can continue to effectively provide a high level of service to the community we serve.

In addition to the accuracy issues, this project will delete a dozen or more labor-intensive steps in the Police Department and Court Clerks office. The current process requires that each citation issued, be hand entered into the Department’s records management computer, which can take several minutes per citation. This project will eliminate the manual entry need. This project will allow the officer to issue a citation in as little as two minutes, compared to the current ten to fifteen minutes that it takes to issue a citation. In addition to reducing the amount of time a drivers is inconvenienced; reducing redundant paperwork means officers and support staff can spend more time on Patrol, focusing on other important issues.

Upon completion of the testing phase of this project, agencies around the State of Idaho will be able, and encouraged, to implement similar electronic citations programs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Lt. Haug 773-6366

AUTHOR: Lt. Haug