Category: News and Updates

No driver wants to sit on the side of the road upwards of 20 minutes waiting to get a speeding ticket. Standing on the roadside writing a ticket also exposes law officers to dangerous passing traffic. But there may be a way to make traffic stops less of a hassle for everybody, according to the Virginia State Police.

The VirginiaMercury.com reports that the agency has started a two-year trial run of an electronic summons system that digitizes the ticket-writing process. This allows state troopers to enter information into a computer – partially by scanning driver’s licenses and vehicle registration cards – instead of filling out paper forms by hand.

Since last year, troopers participating in the test have seen average traffic stop times drop from 26 minutes per ticket to 10 minutes per ticket, according to a VA State Police report.

With the electronic ticketing system, the trooper still prints a paper copy to give to the driver. But case information is electronically transmitted to local courts, eliminating the need for manual data entry and cutting down on flubs caused by sloppy handwriting.

E-ticket systems and mobile printers continue to evolve to take advantage of technology. The best e-ticket systems use Bluetooth wireless technology or Wi-Fi to provide seamless continuity and integration between the electronic citations issued by police officers in the field and processing by the city or county clerk and the courts.

Today’s advanced e-citation solutions allow officers to conduct quick, on-the-spot database searches for traffic violations or criminal offenses. In addition to digitally capturing the driver’s signature, photo or fingerprint, many e-citation solutions can immediately transmit citation data wirelessly to your police agency’s record management system or the court system.

Most e-citation systems work like this: scan the driver’s license barcode, auto-populate the citation form, print the citation for the motorist, and then electronically send the citation to the courthouse. They also include the same basic components: a mobile printer, software, barcode scanner and a smart device such as a phone, laptop, tablet or handheld computer.

Here are some benefits of e-ticket systems from a recent PoliceOne.com interview with Gary Reichle of Brother Mobile Solutions.

What measurable benefits can the right e-citation system deliver?

Gary Reichle: Several have been documented. For example, e-citation systems can increase officer safety by decreasing dangerous radside time writing tickets where officers are exposed to oncoming traffic. Also, significant quantities of handwritten tickets are dismissed due to illegibility, which nationally, can add up to millions of dollars in lost revenue every year.

In addition, by dramatically reducing the administrative cost of issuing and processing citations while also increasing revenue collection, law enforcement agencies can see a fast return on their e-citation solution investment. As public agencies and municipalities face increased pressure to do more with less, that matters more than ever.

Where The Traffic Ticket Money Goes

So where do your fines for a traffic ticket go to? Most people suspect their ticket fines are some kind of bonus for cities and counties. Well the truth is a bit different.

In Oakland, CA, for example, traffic citation revenue helps pay for public libraries, county law libraries, court funding units, local units of government, counties, local law enforcement agencies, and the Justice System Fund.

How the money from the example of a $115 speeding ticket is spent is a little complicated because it depends on whether the speeding was a violation of state statute or local ordinance.

If the ticket is written under state statute, the $75 goes to the local or county treasurer and then to local or county libraries.

If the ticket was written under local ordinance, the $75 is divided. One-third, or $25, goes to the political unit where the violation occurred, and two-thirds, or $50, goes to the court.

And then there’s the Justice System Assessment of $40 that goes to the state’s Justice System Fund.

With more than 312,000 people infected worldwide with the Covid-19 virus, many cities and counties have restricted access to parking or suspended ticketing and enforcement of parking violations.

After weeks of teens on spring break partying on Florida beaches, the Governor finally took action with State of Florida Executive Order 20-68. In response several Florida counties closed parking lots at public beaches. In northeast Florida, St Johns County and Jacksonville closed parking for all their public beaches starting March 23.

In Cocoa Beach, Florida the city installed new signs banning alcohol on the beach and closing beach parking amid the coronavirus pandemic. “We have to limit the contact between people as much as we can with the resources we have,” Cocoa Beach City Manager Jim McKnight said.

Across the US, several cities and states have suspended parking enforcement. Chicago chose to stop all debt collection, ticketing and impound practices through at least April 30 as the economic toll of the coronavirus continues to increase.  The city will work with the private company that owns Chicago’s meters to ensure ticketing only occurs if there’s something that poses a safety threat. An expired meter at a car that is otherwise legally parked will not result in a ticket. Though the city will lose the money it could make from ticketing in the short term, helping keep Chicagoans out of bankruptcy will be far better for Chicago in the long term, officials said.

At Charlotte Douglas International Airport, all but one parking lot will be closed — a change that reflects the sharp decline in airline traffic caused by the coronavirus.

San Francisco and San Jose chose to suspend parking enforcement during the coronavirus outbreak. San Jose on Tuesday said it was suspending parking citations and vehicle abatement across the city for the foreseeable future.

“Parking officers will not be ticketing for parking violations, or towing abandoned or illegally stored vehicles on city streets,” the Bay Area’s largest city said in a statement. “Vehicles parked in an unsafe manner will be referred to the San Jose Police Department.”

Parking garages in downtown San Jose will continue to operate — with limited staffing — so that people can access essential services, according to the city’s release.

San Francisco also implemented changes to its enforcement strategies. The city is temporarily suspending enforcement for violations of 72-hour parking limits and residential permit parking and peak-hour towaway zones.

Long Beach officials announced a new plan for residents Saturday, March 21, that will give free parking to residents while also allowing the city to continue street sweeping. To give residents some time to adjust to the new plan, officials also announced the city has extended the current suspension of street sweeping tickets. Normal street sweeping will resume Monday, March 30.

The Pittsburgh Parking Authority suspended parking enforcement and the city is taking other measures to further restrict face-to-face encounters between city workers and residents during the coronavirus outbreak.

In addition to suspending parking enforcement, the parking authority also is ending hand-to-hand transactions at its garages. Attendants and security will still be on hand for safety reasons.

California cities including Fresno, San Diego and Santa Monica will limit parking enforcement and issuance of citations to holiday or Sunday enforcement regulations. They have also suspended collection of citation fees.

These examples show the unexpected impact of the pandemic, not just for local businesses but also for the budgets of cities across the United States. Several of the cities changing their parking enforcement have specifically mentioned their goal of reducing financial burdens on residents during this health crisis.