DanBodnar
on - last edited on
It’s not only mobile printers that can ease data collection for police officers. In the case of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office in Washington state, it was mobile computers.
After experiencing increased errors and safety issues due to their paper-based system, Snohomish County officers have found the Intermec CN3 mobile computers to increase not only productivity, but also safety.
And, with the inclement weather frequent in Washington, the CN3s hold up much better than paper in the outdoor, rainy environment.
Here’s an excerpt from an Intermec case study that describes just how Snohomish County uses Intermec CN3s on a daily basis:
“Cutting through the chilling rain while carefully shifting between traffic, Deputy David Crandall’s motorcycle advances on a speedster barreling down a rural Snohomish County road in western Washington. Red and blue LED lights come alive as the siren breaks the cacophonic roadway. The violator eases up and stops along the shoulder. Parking behind him, Deputy Crandall dismounts and, from the right saddlebag of the motorcycle, withdraws a device smaller than a two-way radio. With his gun hand free, he uses the device – a rugged mobile computer called an Intermec CN3 – to scan the violator’s driver license and registration and select applicable variables on a software-based Probable Cause Affidavit. Then he prints a citation for the driver as an electronic version is sent back to the headquarters in real time. It’s just another night for the cutting-edge Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.”
Similarly to Snohomish’s experience, the San Jose Police Department also deployed the Intermec CN3 to aid in their own e-ticketing roll-out, experiencing a major reduction in errors in the first month:
“Now, when citizens are pulled over for a traffic violation, the officer simply swipes the violator’s driver’s license to record the driver’s personal information. The officer then identifies additional details regarding the citation using the CN3’s touch screen. Drivers sign the ticket on the screen or on a printed hard copy. In the first two weeks, 1,000 citations were issued with less than a two percent error rate. SJPD hopes to lower this rate to zero percent.”
It’s hard to imagine agencies not wanting to use this system. In fact, police departments all over the U.S. are increasingly using e-ticketing type programs. News stories like this one are becoming more and more popular every day.
There’s even a Twitter handle for furthering the e-citation cause aptly titled the “Paper Police.”
In my next post, we'll take a closer look into the TCO involved, as well as the future of this technology.
