In the past month the department has begun to pilot 100 e-citation machines from Baton Rouge-based Pulse Technology Services, a company specializing in technology and management systems for law enforcement, judicial systems and correctional institutions since 2005, according to their website.
The machines, a combination of a smartphone-like device and a thermal printer, are being distributed to patrol officers and officers in specialized units such as the department's OWI, traffic and narcotics sections, said traffic section supervisor Sgt. Keith Deroche, who's been managing the rollout.
The department is leasing the machines from Pulse Technology Services for $180,000 annually, he said.
"It's going to make everyone's lives easier from start to finish. It's more expeditious. It's easier. It's cleaner," Deroche said.
The department attempted the transition a few times in the past, the first time over a decade ago, but each time the initiative stalled out, Deroche said. This time around the law enforcement agency is already looking ahead to expanding use of the tool beyond city court level citations to misdemeanor summonses handled at the district court level.
Deroche said the technology is appealing for several reasons.
The handheld device is efficient, he said. While writing a paper ticket may take 5 minutes or more, the digital version takes around a minute and five seconds to a minute and 10 seconds to complete a citation, Deroche estimated.
Limiting the length of time the officer is standing on the roadside lessens the likelihood the officer could be struck by a vehicle, ambushed or otherwise endangered, the traffic section supervisor said.
The machine's speed comes from the device's autofill capabilities.
The officer can enter a vehicle's license plate number into the state's Office of Motor Vehicles database, and the device will immediately fill in the vehicle information. It can do the same with individuals' information by scanning the bar code on the person's license, rather than relying on the officer to hand write each piece of info, he said.
Because the officer can quickly pull up vehicle information, he or she can swiftly gather some baseline information before approaching the stopped motorist, the traffic section supervisor said.
"Before I walk up, I know who you are, what your vehicle is, if you have insurance information, if you have warrants, if you're under suspension — stuff that used to take 20 minutes calling headquarters for," he said.
Each ticket in a physical citation book includes multiple pages. Each page goes to a different entity — the recipient of the ticket, the police department, the city prosecutor's office and Lafayette City Court, Deroche said.
After a ticket is issued, the officer brings it to his supervisor, who notarizes it and scans the associated barcode into their management system. Then, the ticket is secured in a locked box in the watch commander's office. The next morning, a staffer from the records department collects the ticket, processes it and delivers it to city court, where it goes through the court's own protocol, he said.
One ticket could pass through half a dozen or more people, creating plenty of opportunities for the ticket to get lost in the shuffle.
With the e-ticketing system, the only print copy will be issued to the violator in the form of a long, skinny printout the officers jokingly call "the CVS receipt." For everyone else, the information is stored in a cloud-based database. Designated users in the police department, city prosecutor's office and Lafayette City Court have access through tailored portals, Deroche said.
"It can't be lost. It can't be changed. You can't spill coffee on it. You [don't have to worry about opening] your unit door, and it catches the wind and blows out and now you're running down the side of Johnston Street trying to catch a ticket that just flew out the window. That's experience talking," he said.
With all the data stored in the cloud, including type of citation, location and time of day the citation was issued, the department can also quickly break the information down to draw conclusions and inform policing decisions, Deroche said.
The Lafayette Police Department is not the first law enforcement agency in the area to use the machines. Louisiana State Police Troop I, which covers nine parishes in Acadiana, and the Carencro Police Department use the technology, among others.
Carencro Police Chief David Anderson said the department's two traffic officers began using the e-ticketing tools about three years ago.
The e-citation system is appealing because it maintains all the functionality of a paper ticket, including the option to add notes about the encounter and the circumstances of the citation for use in court, and goes beyond what a paper ticket can achieve, like by allowing officers to simultaneously search if the violator has active warrants, he said.
If the individual does have an active warrant, the device will vibrate and quietly alert the officer. It's a safety advantage over waiting for a response over the radio, which the violator could potentially overhear, the Carencro chief said.
"I think more and more agencies are going to go to it because of how quick it is. The less time we're on the side of the road is a plus not just for the officer, but for the violator also. They're not standing outside of their car in the summer or the winter. Nobody wants to be sitting there on the side of the road for 10 minutes while they're receiving a citation," Anderson said.
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