New Carrollton police lead state in technology

eCitations will reduce traffic violation errors, increase patrolling time, officials say

New Carrollton’s police department on Dec. 4 became the first in the state authorized to issue electronic traffic citations rather than handwritten tickets to traffic violators.

Using a computer inside the car, New Carrollton police officers can type in a person’s tag information and instantly get information on possible expired tags or driver’s licenses, and print tickets from a small ink jet printer. Drivers are not required to give a signature, which Hartnett said should relieve tension between violators and officers since many violators believe signing the ticket admits guilt.

‘‘There’s less time on the traffic stop, no negotiating on the signature, and more focus on the ticket,” Hartnett said. ‘‘Plus, in general, police officers will be back on the road patrolling, which is what they’re supposed to be doing instead of spending time at these traffic stops.”

Hartnett said Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) approved legislation for use of eCitations after signing State House Bill 459 into law May 15. Hartnett said even though the law was signed in May, it did not take effect until Oct. 1 and only police departments that met certification requirements could use the program.

‘‘But the problem was, most didn’t even have a program,” Hartnett said. ‘‘And if they did, none were certified by District Court. Maryland has stringent requirements.”

Because of increased interest from the District Court and State Highway Administration, an eCitation Initiative Committee formed in 2005 to determine a set of guidelines all police departments would have to follow to properly issue an eCitation, such as having the correct format, time, date and charges.

Committee members included District Court members such as Chief Judge Ben C. Clyburn, District Court Traffic Processing Center workers, Judicial Information Service representatives and engineers from private McLean, Va.-based company Assyst Advanced Software Systems, which helped develop a database.

Clyburn said several state police agencies have submitted applications to begin eCitation certification, such as the Berwyn Heights Police Department, the Caroline County Sheriff’s Department, Chevy Chase Village Police Department and the Salisbury Police Department.

Clyburn said the only agency getting closer to developing a program is the Maryland State Police. Clyburn said he hoped they would have had a program running by Nov. 1, since they process more than 400,000 of the 1.5 million yearly citations statewide. Clyburn said the new technology would cut down on law enforcement and court data entry errors.

‘‘It’s going to be a more effective use of resources here at the court,” Clyburn said. ‘‘Right now we’ve got 28 individuals who spend their entire day doing manual entries of those million and a half citations.”

Hartnett said nationwide about 10 percent to 15 percent of traffic tickets cannot be processed because of illegible handwriting, missing fines and charging statutes or incorrect dates. Hartnett said in Maryland, no one would know of any errors until the tickets were mailed to District Court and information on each handwritten ticket was typed into a computer. Once information is filled out in an eCitation, it is sent directly from the cruiser to the District Courts database without additional process.

‘‘Cops are like doctors,” Hartnett said. ‘‘You can’t read their writing. The [eCitation] ticket is clearly legible. The information on the ticket is coming directly from [the] MVA file, so you know it’s accurate.”

With the new technology, Hartnett said it takes 10 to 20 seconds to fill out a ticket rather than five to six minutes handwriting one. Hartnett added residents can now also pay their traffic tickets online through the ‘‘ePayment” program at www.mdcourts.gov.

New Carrollton City Administrator J. Michael Downes said he is excited about the use of eCitations, which he said would benefit the violator, police officer and court system because it shortens the process of getting information from the police to the District Court.

‘‘It’s a marvel in technology,” Downes said. ‘‘And the fact that the Maryland State Police or sheriff’s department or one of the more larger jurisdictions isn’t the first ones says a lot about our police department.”

E-mail Natalie McGill at nmcgill@gazette.net.