The Regina Police Service, partnering with the Ministry of Justice, is introducing e-ticketing for police traffic vehicles in Regina. This is the first use of an e-ticketing system for municipal police services in Saskatchewan; e-ticketing has been available to RCMP detachments since 2013.
In Regina, a swipe machine and printer have been added to the existing computers in the vehicles used by the Traffic Safety Unit. This new equipment allows tickets to be generated. The process is as follows:
– A motorist is stopped for a traffic offence by a police officer; the motorist produces his or her driver’s license.
– The police officer swipes the driver’s license and enters the offence into the computer. The system generates the amount of the ticket and the court date. The system prints a ticket which is given to the offender.
– At the end of each shift, the officer’s computer transfers the information electronically to the police agency computer which then transfers it electronically to the Fine Collection/Court database. All monies are remitted to the province and the municipality.
At this time, only Regina Police Service Traffic Safety Unit cars are equipped with this new system. Traffic cars have been e-ticketing for approximately two weeks (since August 31st). Regular patrol vehicles will be equipped with the e-ticketing system in coming years, as budget permits. In the interim, regular patrol officers will continue to enforce laws, using the “old” method of issuing tickets.
There are benefits to the new system: it is a time-saver for officers and it will reduce errors. And, although all can agree, “nobody likes to get a ticket”, another advantage to this system is that it reduces the amount of time the motorist will spend at roadside, before continuing to his/her destination.
“It’s kind of a bad news/good news tale,” says Inspector Evan Bray, North District Inspector with the Regina Police Service. “The bad news is: if you speed, you’ll get a ticket. The good news is: if we can issue an e-ticket, we’ll get you on your way sooner.” And the best news is: the whole scenario can be avoided by obeying traffic and other laws.
“I applaud the Regina Police Service for taking this important step,” said Justice Minister and Attorney General Gordon Wyant. “Along with being more accurate, the new system will make the process more efficient for everyone involved, including our court staff who will be manually entering far fewer paper tickets.”
The introduction of e-ticketing at the Regina Police Service builds on an infrastructure investment from 2005, at which time the Regina Police Service made the transition to an electronic evidence and information management system (as opposed to paper files). The product, a Niche system, has an “open architecture” that allows the Regina Police Service to build additional functionality as needed. The Province of Saskatchewan has made the necessary changes to regulations to allow e-ticketing in Regina.
