Metro getting high-tech ticket system

Jen Lawson

Monday, Feb. 17, 2003 | 10:37 a.m.

Metro Police are expected to retire their paper ticket books by this summer and replace them with hand-held electronic devices that will also allow officers to analyze crash data, look up driver and vehicle information and access traffic statistics, all with the touch of a few buttons.

At the beginning of the year 10 traffic officers began using Compaq iPAQs as part of a statewide traffic records data improvement project funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

All of Metro's 120 traffic officers who ride motorcycles are scheduled to be using the devices by June. The Henderson, North Las Vegas and Mesquite police departments and the Nevada Highway Patrol are tentatively set to start using the system later this year.

"The first couple times, drivers thought it was kind of Star Trekky, but overall the reaction has been really positive," Lt. Carlos Cordeiro of Metro's traffic section said.

No typing is involved in using the devices: They have handwriting recognition technology and pull-down menus, according to Denise Dunning, traffic records manager for the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety.

When the officers finish writing the ticket, they point the device at a small printer that they store in the saddle bags on their motorcycles. A receipt similar to a retail store receipt prints out, which the officer gives to the driver.

At the end of the officers' shift, they download the citation data into a computer, which is instantly transmitted into a state database. This system will allow the state to analyze crashes, driver and vehicle information, highway engineering, emergency care response, court convictions and offenses that contribute to the state's vehicle crashes.

"One of the benefits is that we're looking at real-time data," Dunning said. "With (the paper system), we're looking at data that's two or three years old, and the problems we're trying to fix might have already been fixed."

The police departments will have a copy of the data, which will let them do their own local analysis, she said.

The system will also allow police to look for suspects when they only have a few bits of information.

"If the police know they're looking for a red car with a 'W' in the license plate driven by a man between the ages of 18 and 35, they can enter that and get a list of all the people who have gotten tickets who fit that description," Dunning said. "It's a great way to look for suspects."

Going electronic with citations is the first part of a larger plan to build a centralized, statewide highway safety information system. Later this year traffic crash reports will also go electronic, which will allow state officials and police to analyze crash data.

Eventually, if more money is available, the data will be transmitted electronically to the courts. Currently the printouts of the traffic citations are sent to the courts. Before this system was adopted, the courts would get a carbon copy of the officers' handwritten tickets.

"The law enforcement officers love it because they can move ahead with technology," Dunning said. "The judges love it because they can read the tickets."

The National Traffic Safety Administration covered some of the cost of the project for all 50 states, and Nevada is one of the first states to implement it. Iowa was used as the national model, Dunning said.

The grant for Nevada was $2.5 million given over four years, beginning in July 2000, and split among 11 law enforcement agencies. Washoe County was the first to adopt the project.

"The officers in the Washoe County traffic unit bring their devices everywhere to show them off," Dunning said. "The ones who are using them feel they can't live without them."

Law enforcement agencies are required to make an initial investment in the system. Metro spent $200,000 for software and hardware, and the grant paid for the remaining $300,000 to get the project off the ground, Cordeiro said.

The system will save money in the long run because the data will be entered one time at the officer level, eliminating the need for data entry staff, Dunning said. Also, there are 60 percent fewer errors, officials said.

"This system is easier, and it gives us absolutely accurate and fresh information," Cordeiro said.