Writing a ticket by the side of the road at 4:30 a.m. in a deserted industrial zone, you know you’re exposed. In 2016, an officer in Newark, New Jersey experienced one of the outcomes police most dread in such situations.
A passing Mazda struck the officer and dragged him a significant distance – 80 yards, according to the local Fraternal Order of Police president – leaving him seriously hurt. Then the driver sped off.
The officer, who was never publicly identified, faced significant injuries. The accused driver was quickly arrested and charged with several serious crimes, including aggravated assault of a police officer.
While every element of danger can’t be engineered out of a scenario like this, one of its biggest risks can be reduced simply by limiting the time officers need to spend standing unprotected at roadside. Electronic citation (e-citation) systems help them get their ticket written, interaction completed and danger averted significantly quicker than historical methods.
“Law enforcement used to have to approach a car, take a license or registration back, key everything into a laptop and print it, return to the car and get a signature,” said Kerry Wicks, senior account manager at Zebra Technologies, which offers e-citation and other technology solutions for law enforcement. “Now they can take a mobile handheld device to the side of the vehicle, capture all the data and information right there on the spot, collect an electronic signature from the operator, and literally be off the road and out of the way of traffic in less than half the time it used to take.”
Safety – and other benefits
That’s a big change from Wicks’ days as a deputy in North Carolina in the 1980s and ’90s. Then tickets were still issued manually. Electronic citation technology began maturing in the later 1990s, and the state implemented its first e-citation program just a few years after he left law enforcement.
There were some awkward aspects to such early systems, but they set the stage for more substantial improvements later.
“What they tried to do originally was just copy a form,” Wicks recalled. “A lot of that was driven by the courts, which wanted to see things in the same form they were when you were writing on paper. But as technology progressed and evolved, people started to adopt different mindsets, and that opened more opportunities.
“Traditionally, if I have to write a citation to be printed in the exact same context it used to be, I’m mostly restricted to a laptop in a car and an 8½-by-11 printer. When the mindset started moving beyond that, we were able to introduce mobile handheld technology and compact mobile printers.”
Later improvements focused on simplification of processes and trends toward fewer keystrokes, faster printing and less manual work by officers as they issued tickets.
“There’s a greater focus on officer safety,” Wicks added. “We want that encounter to be as quick as possible because we know that the more exposure they have to traffic, the greater the opportunity for some type of incident to occur that could cause an injury.”
There are other benefits to making citations electronic as well. A big one is efficiency: Because e-citations are a faster process than returning to the cruiser to complete a ticket manually, their capability lets officers complete interactions more quickly and move on to other priorities, thus accomplishing more in a day. There are also associated cost savings around data entry, processing and mailing of traditional tickets.
Perhaps the biggest benefit beyond safety, though, may be accuracy: Scanning drivers’ licenses captures all their information automatically, without the risks of transcription errors, transpositions or unclear hand printing.
“You’re not dealing with chicken scratch that can’t be interpreted later by a court – it’s all legible,” noted Wicks. “The ability to automate things like driver’s license scans and license plate reads makes things expedient but really increases accuracy as well.”
Handhelds, tablets provide options
Given those potential benefits, the selection of hardware to power e-citation programs is an important one. Zebra offers a variety of rugged, capable devices to support them.
Zebra’s primary small-form devices for the purpose include the TC7X line of all-in-one phone-size Android mobile handhelds – in particular the TC73/TC78. Combining streaming video, video calls, and multimedia and augmented-reality apps, TC7X models have upgraded processing power and can support Wi-Fi 6E, 5G and CBRS. An advanced 6-inch display – 28% larger, viewable indoors or out and operable by stylus or finger – fits citation forms and requires less scrolling.
Multiple battery options facilitate work in the field, and users can choose from two scan engines, including the SE55 1D/2D Advanced Range engine with IntelliFocus technology, powerful enough to capture barcodes up to 40 feet away.
“The more exposure [officers] have to traffic, the greater the opportunity for some type of incident to occur that could cause an injury.”
Tablet options include the ET6X and ET8X 2-in-1 lines. Suited for dedicated programs and operable on Windows or Android systems, ET6X models are led by the ET65, for indoor or outdoor use, with a 10-inch display and 1,000-nit brightness visible in any lighting. It supports Wi-Fi 6E, 5G and CBRS, has built-in AI and can come with extended battery life. The line supports a wide range of e-citation apps.
ET8X options have a larger 12-inch display and can also replace the Windows laptops in vehicles and power additional Windows apps (e.g., CAD/RMS, report writing, etc.). Both weigh under 3 pounds.
“There are a couple of things that differentiate us,” said Wicks. “We have our typical Windows solutions, and those are in our tablet form factors – our 10- and 12-inch tablets, which we call a two-in-one. It’s compact and portable and will operate as a tablet, but I can snap a keyboard to the bottom of it and basically turn it into a laptop. Those are on Windows operating systems.
“Then we have different levels of handheld computers, and those are all on Android operating systems. Many of the e-citation software providers have solutions that run in an Android environment, and we work with almost all of them.”
For printing on the go, Zebra’s ZQ500 series mobile printers are developed to withstand the liquids, dirt and drops of the field, with large buttons and easy user interfaces. Models include the ZQ511, with a 3-inch print width, and the ZQ521, which increases that to four. Both are available in linerless or RFID models.
ZQ500 printers are powered by Zebra’s secure Print DNA software suite, which connects cloud-based apps and allows remote management of devices. Zebra DNA software does that for mobile devices.
Choose your approach
The variety of devices Zebra offers can drive a variety of approaches to e-citation programs, allowing users to develop around their local needs and preferences.
“If you have people on foot patrol, you wouldn’t want them to have to drag a six- or seven-pound laptop around – a handheld that snaps on a belt makes sense,” said Wicks. “When you start getting into horseback or motorcycle patrol, for example, a tablet may be a consideration because now you have some space – saddlebags, trunks, whatever it is. The other gear and equipment being carried takes up space too, but that does start providing options.”
In cars, the smaller form factors with the keyboard capability are space-savers, but the future may be handhelds there as well.
“We have agencies now that are working to give officers handhelds and use them as the computer inside the vehicle,” added Wicks. “We have a solution for that where it mounts into a cradle. The premise would be that I get in my patrol car and cradle my device; that device would access the cloud, which is where my CAD and records are. But it also gives me the ability to make cell phone calls and use agency messaging systems, and I can do it all with one device. So instead of having a laptop in the car, a cell phone in my pocket and a PC in my office, there’s one device that covers all of those.
“I think as time progresses and we see more agencies adopting cloud solutions, we’ll see that mobile handheld solutions become more and more prevalent.”
Information in hand pays off
Working in law enforcement will always carry an element of danger. While it can’t all be controlled, it makes sense to mitigate what you can. Electronic citation technology reduces risk in those vulnerable moments roadside and improves overall accuracy and efficiency in operations.
Programs can also, on some happy occasions, lead to landing bigger fish than those just getting tickets.
“I’ve heard more than once that having that device in their hand at the side of the vehicle and having access to their other solutions has led to what would have been just a simple stop sign or speeding violation turning into a felony arrest,” said Wicks. “They enter a name to do that citation, and it checks their local warrant database. There’s no radio traffic; they don’t have to call it in. Just having that device and information in their hand alerts them that this particular person is wanted.”
That multiplies the safety benefit from one officer to an entire community.
For more information, visit Zebra Technologies.
