North Carolina issues e-traffic tickets

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March 24, 2000
Web posted at: 7:57 a.m. EST (1257 GMT)

by Dan Caterinicchia

(IDG) -- Motorists stopped for traffic violations in Cumberland County, N.C., are the first in the nation to have their citations issued on a system that lets officers print out a ticket on-site, while simultaneously sending a copy via radio waves to the court's computer system.

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The electronic citation project, a public/private partnership involving six law enforcement agencies and three vendors, went live on March 8. It is the first system in the country that uses wireless technology to send copies of tickets to the court computer system, eliminating the need for labor-intensive, redundant data entry, said First Sgt. Jeff Winstead of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

The e-Citation process begins when officers issue a citation on their laptop and print out a hard copy on a small printer in their patrol car. A soft copy of the ticket is then sent to the stateās Criminal Justice Information Network, where judges and court clerks can access it.

"There are multiple handwritten copies that are [traditionally] handled by the trooper, the court clerk, the DMV and for auditing purposes, so thereās a constant handling of that data," Winstead said. "The mobile data terminals are already in use and so is the Criminal Justice Information Network. Weāre enhancing that particular system, which frees up the officers from the mundane filing types of tasks and puts them in the field longer."

The project cost $500,000 and was funded by the Governorās Highway Safety Program. A total of 32 officers from the Cumberland County Sheriffās Department, the Fayetteville Police Department and the State Highway Patrol will participate in a 90-day pilot. Then the stateās Administrative Office of the Courts will evaluate the data and begin plans to expand the program on a county-by-county basis, Winstead said. "Weāll find the gremlins in the pilot and work them out," he said.

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Cumberland County (N.C.) Sheriff's Office

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