When we think about the traditional process of writing and delivering a citation, many images come to mind, not all of them being positive for the municipality or officer.
Handwriting errors
Information gap delay between the officer and the municipality’s system
Overworked staff entering each citation into the system manually, one at a time
Slow court processing
Time lost in officers returning to patrol duty
Lost revenue from generating additional citations
Increased officer presence required to write tickets during seasonal traffic spikes
Do any of these seem familiar to you?
Besides the above issues in relation to processing, productivity and workforce, let’s not forget safety: Officers who write tickets manually on the road next to busy streets and highways are constantly at risk. If they ask citizens to leave the vehicle, those individuals are at risk too.
Enter eCitations using DACRA’s software platform to streamline the law enforcement process with a host of intelligent advantages for municipalities.
eCitation Creation
For a view into the speed and efficiency of an eCitation, picture this scenario: An officer pulls over a citizen for a violation. They could go about the process of having a prolonged conversation, the officer walking back to the patrol car, sitting in the car writing out a state ticket in full, walking back to the offender, explaining it and then walking back to the patrol car again. It sounds laborious just reading that, doesn’t it? And we still have a lapse of time for sharing information between the officer and the municipality’s record system.
Contrast that with using an eCitation: The officer pulls over a citizen and soon after creates an electronic ticket instantly right from their mobile device or squadcar. Once the eCitation is created, it’s transferred directly to the municipality’s system. And all relevant information can be easily entered on the spot – automated hearing times and dates. The complete stop from start to finish can mean several minutes less than a traditional stop for a violation.
Consider how those saved minutes compound over the course of a day, a week, a month. What kind of activities could an officer engage in with that increased time? How much additional compliance could be enforced on behalf of the municipality?
eCitations Issued for Parking Violations Using a Tablet and License Plate Recognition
Our officer who just created an eCitation for a moving violation goes into town and parks his squad car in an area where he sees several vehicles violating parking restrictions. Does he have to pick and choose which citation to issue first? Not really. The user-friendliness of an eCitation allows the officer to issue multiple violations in just a few clicks from their mobile device. In fact, after using the License Plate Recognition feature, the officer quickly discovers that one of the individuals has a prior number of outstanding violations that need to be addressed. After taking a few photographs for evidence, the officer identifies the vehicle as eligible for immobilization.
In just a few clicks, the officer issued several eCitations directly from their tablet and, in the process, found that a repeat violator hadn’t addressed their previous tickets, which will undoubtedly lead to further action being taken.
eCitations Help Routine Local Offenses Stay Routine
For ordinance offenses, it’s often the more minor issues that wind up eating significant time with each violation. As offenses such as disorderly conduct, graffiti and excess noise are compiled, they can draw officers away from other events that could be more critical. So how do we hold parties accountable quickly while moving along to another area, such as lending support to another officer? Preserving your resources via eCitation issuance enables officers to uphold the law efficiently with each local ordinance violation.
Finally, while an eCitation may be electronic, it’s never lacking in detail for the respondent. Each eCitation issued in DACRA Tech software provides the respondent with crystal-clear instructions concerning payments and hearing dates. So they’re not left in the dark about their next steps.
How’s Your Municipality’s Workflow Looking? Time for an eCitation Upgrade?
Don’t let the work of your dedicated people bottleneck when it doesn’t have to. Let our team at DACRA Tech understand your current workflow, areas you’d like to improve upon and provide you with a demo to show how an eCitation isn’t the same as a traditional citation. It’s better. Contact DACRA Tech today at 847.490.8440 or email solutions@dacratech.com.
REQUEST A DEMO OF OUR PERMITTING SOFTWARE FOR GOVERNMENTS
We pride ourselves on the strong relationships we build with our clients. This allows us to delve deeply into workflows so that we can create perfect training programs and achieve rapid onboarding. Implementation can often be accomplished in a matter of a few weeks.