Published: November 23, 2007 10:35 am      

More tickets in less time

New e-ticketing system to improve officer safety, efficiency

Indiana State Police this month implemented an electronic ticketing system that is as fast as the speeders the troopers write up.

The electronic Citation and Warning System, or e-CWS for short, was developed by the Indiana Supreme Court’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee and designed to reduce paperwork and improve safety and efficiency.

With 20 years as a traffic enforcement officer, Master Trooper Ron Whitney could write a ticket by hand in two to three minutes. Some troopers took up to 10 minutes, especially if there were multiple offenses. With the new system, Whitney can complete the ticket — even with more than one infraction — in 35 seconds.

How it works

On a recent afternoon, a vehicle zoomed past the Peru post going 76 mph in a 60 mph zone.

The trooper whipped his unmarked squad car across the grass median and pulled the speeder over to the side of the road. Whitney collected the driver’s ID and registration and brought them back to his squad car, which is equipped with a laptop computer, hand-held scanner and printer.

After scanning the bar code on the back of the license and registration, Whitney photographed the front of the license to ensure there is no mistaken identity. The fields in the ticket were automatically filled in. He printed two copies of the ticket nd gave one to the violator, who was back on the road in about five minutes.

“A lot quicker than writing one out,” Whitney said as he got back into his car.

Later, the officer hand delivers the electronic ticket to the local court. In the future, a function will be developed to allow the ticket to be electronically transmitted to the court, thus saving time and fuel.

E-ticketing works with most out-of-state licenses. Some do not have the bar code, so a ticket is issued the old fashioned way, Whitney said. Indiana is the first to use bar codes on registrations. The trooper is hoping other states will follow.

Officials say e-CWS will soon be available to all law enforcement agencies in Indiana.

More tickets

Whitney, already referred to as a ticket-writing machine, is hoping the new system will allow him to write even more tickets.

In 2006, the Indiana State Police issued 304,863 citations and 313,136 warnings throughout the state.

In less than 45 minutes and hardly out of sight of the post, Whitney pulled over four vehicles for speeding. The pace was below his record of 50 in a 12-hour shift, but still productive, Whitney said. In a 10-hour shift, he could easily write more than 30 tickets, and he has a purpose.

“We’re trying to eliminate crashes and reduce traffic fatalities by making the highway safer and making sure everyone is abiding by state laws,” Whitney said. “If they don’t, they’re going to get a ticket.”

Sgt. Tony Slocum, public information officer at the Peru post, says troopers don’t write citations to be mean.

“We don’t want to knock on doors to tell family that their loved one was killed in a traffic accident,” Slocum said. “If we have to issue someone a ticket to prevent a fatality and make the highways safer, we will.”

Slocum said e-ticketing will also improve accuracy and legibility and reduce time spent at the side of the road.

“The less time a trooper is alongside the road, the less danger for us and the traffic violator,” Slocum said.

Kevin Lilly can be reached at (574) 732-5117, or via e-mail at kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com