SULLIVAN CITY – Police officers here will soon be able to input tickets electronically rather than writing them by hand.
That’s because the City Commission approved the purchase of five hand-held ticket writers during a July 24 special meeting.
“Technology for our small community is a blessing in disguise,” said Richard Ozuna, Sullivan City police chief.
The devices will cut the citation writing time in half because officers will be able to scan someone’s driver’s license, and that information will automatically appear on the electronic ticket.
Officers will no longer have to input citations into the public safety records computer system at the end of their shift.
And the ticket writers won’t just improve officer efficiency: they will also speed things up at the municipal court.
Municipal court clerks enter officers’ hand-written citations into the court’s computer system by hand. The new technology will cut out this step because officers will be able to upload the electronic citations from the devices directly to a computer.
The Municipal Court Technology Fund will cover the $29,031 purchase from Tyler Technologies.
Ozuna said the department should receive the ticket writers within the next six weeks and expects the transition to be simple since officers will soon start training on how to use the devices.
In addition to Ozuna, the Sullivan City Police Department has nine full-time officers. There will be enough hand-held ticket writers for every officer to have one while on patrol.
Ozuna said he’s wanted to bring them to Sullivan City’s Police Department since he was appointed chief last summer.
“I’m excited for them,” he said.
