Police Install E-Ticketing Technology In Some Cars

The Fort Lee Police Department has installed e-ticket readers, software and printers in the first two of six police cars it plans to use in a demonstration project borough and police officials hope will make issuing tickets for traffic violations safer for police officers, faster for both officers and motorists and more efficient for the courts to process and violators to pay.

"Although there are a few other municipalities who have or are in the process of installing the system, we felt it was prudent to ensure the system will work as expected,” said Fort Lee Councilman Jan Goldberg, who was instrumental in getting a resolution passed in May that cleared the way for an electronic ticketing system for the Fort Lee Police Department. “The demonstration project is not costing us any out-of-pocket, upfront expenses.”

As Goldberg explained, the program computerizes the ticket process. Instead of a police officer manually writing a ticket, they scan the driver’s license barcode on the portable ticket reader, and all of the demographic information appears on the reader. The police officer then picks from a dropdown menu the appropriate violation or violations, hits print and hands a summons to the unlucky motorist.

“A major benefit and of paramount importance is that the ‘writing officer’ will spend less time at a vehicle stop, which keeps the officer safer,” Goldberg said. “The tickets print out on a mini printer, which are clear and eliminate keypunch errors, illegible handwriting and other clerical errors. Additionally, since it is a real time system, a motorist can pay the ticket at the Municipal Court within a short period of time of receiving a violation.”

“Because of the speed and accuracy of generating a violation, a motorist should be on their way faster,” Goldberg said.

Fort Lee Police Chief Thomas Ripoli said the system is not yet being used, but with training and a live test planned for next week, it will be soon. He said he believes the e-ticket program will make police work easier.

Det. Ira Hass, who Ripoli pointed out will be using the new system, agreed.

"It will alleviate some of the paperwork, and it will help move people through the court a little quicker,” Haas said.

Det. Tom Porto, whom Ripoli called one of the “stalwarts of [the e-ticket program],” said that after the borough came to the police department expressing their interest, they met with the three vendors that are certified in the state, ultimately choosing to go with GTBM of East Rutherford, the company that already provides the Fort Lee Police Department with its Info-Cop technology, in part because it will its e-ticket software will interface well with that system.

But, Porto said, the main advantage the program in general offers is keeping police officers safe while making routine traffic stops.

“The main thing for the chief was officer safety,” Porto said. “It’s pretty much instantaneous. Right now you have to write out everything in the summons. There are errors that come with it. If I’m writing a summons, I’m looking down. Whereas [with the e-ticketing program], I’m looking at the computer screen and still have a line of sight to the vehicle that was pulled over. That’s probably the best part for officers is keeping your eye on the car as well as speeding up the process of issuing a summons.”

Porto said he also expects the program to increase efficiency across the board, explaining that the way it works now is for an officer to write a summons and submit it to the tour commander. Someone then has to take all of the summonses from the previous day and manually enter them into the system. They’re then forwarded to the court, and “depending on the volume they have or the backlog, they have to enter it into their system,” Porto explained.

“All of that is eliminated,” he said. “So it’s not just us entering it in here. It’s really a big efficiency that’s going to be gained.”

Next week, the six officers assigned to the cars that will initially have the technology installed, will be trained to use the system. Then the police will conduct a live test, issuing an actual summons in real time. If that goes as planned, the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) will certify the Fort Lee Police Department to put the program into full operation.

“Because we’re doing six cars, the initial training is going to be with the officers that are assigned to those vehicles,” Porto said. “And then pretty much with the software, you’re going to know within the first week or two if it’s going to work. If you get a hundred calls at the desk that it’s not working in the first two weeks, you know it’s not going to work. I anticipate it working very well.”

Goldberg, who also noted officer safety, efficiency and speed, called the importance of the program to the municipality “multi-faceted,” and said it should result in “significant” savings to the borough.

“Since the system is tied directly to the state, borough employees who now key punch violations into the state computers can be assigned other tasks,” Goldberg said. “From a cash flow standpoint, we believe we will collect fines faster because of the elimination of the data entry function. Since the system is automated, there will be a reduction of space needed to store hard copy. Also the program eliminates a significant cost in purchasing violation books and the associated record keeping for those books.”