April 09, 2012

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Ill. police to go high-tech for ticketing

Handwritten tickets about to become a thing of the past

By Matt Buedel
The Peoria Journal Star

PEORIA, Ill. — A long-anticipated transition to a more automated system of computer-generated traffic tickets is under way at the Peoria Police Department.

Beginning last week, officers in the traffic division became the first to use a program that automatically reads information from driver's licenses to fill out portions of traffic citations, then prints out violation forms.

Patrol cars will be the next to be equipped with the technology, essentially making handwritten tickets — and the subsequent processes of manually entering information into databases — a thing of the past.

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"It's much less prone to mistakes," said Lt. David Roger from the Peoria Police Department's Technical Services Division. "This makes it easier as far as legibility and streamlines the process of entering this information into the system.

"As soon as the officer clears the traffic stop, the data is already in the system," he added. "It doesn't have to be re-entered."

The Peoria City Council first authorized funding for the automated system in 2006, but limits on the capability of software and technology at the time has delayed implementation of the plan.

"I think technology at the time would not have supported what we wanted to do with the system," Roger said. "Now, we have a system that's capable of executing what we want."

The tickets that will be printed out still adhere to statutory requirements for the explanation of motorists' rights and longevity. The paper that will be run through a small, thermal printer has a 20-year shelf life.

"It's not like the receipt you get from Walmart that fades in your wallet in a couple of months," Roger said. "It puts things in a clearer to read format, a more legible format, no doubt."

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