Traffic Stops Go High-Tech With Hand-Held Computers
Texas, Police Department motorcycle officers are using AutoCITE, a handheld computer with a digital signature system and built-in printer, which enables them to swipe a driver’s license and gather their information so a citation can be digitally signed by the drivers.
At the end of their shifts, officers can then download the information directly to the municipal court system. “In the past, an officer had to write all the information down, then when they turned it in, a clerk had to type it into the system,” said North Richland Hills Police Capt. Pat Murphy. “With these books, all that writing will be eliminated.”
The handheld citation computers are manufactured by Enforcement Technology of Irvine, Calif., which has provided AutoCITE for 540 agencies in the United States and eight countries since the 1980s; each device costs $4,700.
The device eliminates errors due to an officer’s handwriting or a clerk’s transferring of information, and enables officers to spend less time on traffic stops.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (05/12/03) P. 4; Ramirez, Domingo Jr.