E-ticketing system could save Cape $163,000 a year

If the Cape Girardeau City Council approves the expenditure, a new electronic ticketing system could recover up to $163,000 worth of lost time and revenue annually, a police spokesman said Friday.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department hopes to buy 30 handheld devices that will speed up traffic stops while reducing errors and saving time on data entry, said Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

Currently, officers have to write tickets manually -- a time-consuming process that requires them to copy down driver's license information by hand, look up ordinances and find available court dates, Hickey said.

After issuing a ticket, an officer must bring it back to the station, where it is reviewed for legibility and accuracy before being passed along to two clerks. One clerk manually enters the data into the police department's records management system; another enters it into the state's system, Hickey said.

Someone then has to hand-deliver the ticket to court, where another clerk enters it into the court's software system, he said.

With the handheld devices, officers could scan the bar code on the back of a driver's license, select violations from a searchable list and print a receipt for the driver, Hickey said.

The ticket information automatically would go to the city prosecutor for approval before being sent to the state, court and department computer systems, he said.

The automated system would reduce the likelihood of errors; speed up traffic stops for both officers and motorists; and free up clerks' time for other work, Hickey said.

"It's officer-safety conscious, too," he said. "It will minimize the time the officer has to spend standing on the side of the road, out of his car."

In addition to traffic and parking citations, officers could use the devices to issue summonses for shoplifting or other minor violations, Hickey said.

He said the devices will cost roughly $140,000, which includes training, software and a year's worth of maintenance and supplies.

Hickey hopes to secure a state grant to cover part of the cost.

He estimated the devices could save up to $105,000 a year just by reducing errors -- which can make tickets impossible to prosecute -- and another $58,000 worth of time currently lost to data entry.

Today's ordinance

The devices are among the expenditures included in a proposed ordinance the city council will consider at its meeting today.

If passed, the ordinance would allocate casino revenue to four areas -- the adjacent community fund (3 percent), the legacy and endowment fund (10 percent), the capital improvement fund (40 percent) and the innovation fund (20 percent) -- and authorize a total of $500,000 in innovation expenditures.

The innovation fund covers items such as technology and training to improve efficiency.

Among the expenditures outlined in the ordinance are the e-ticketing system; leadership training; computer equipment and software for several departments, including public works and the fire department; and new registration software for the parks and recreation department.

The allocation levels are based on existing policy, city manager Scott Meyer said Friday.

He said the other 27 percent of the casino revenue remains in the account, allowing the council flexibility to allocate it as needed.

The city anticipates $3 million in casino revenue for the current year, according to the ordinance.

One of the proposed innovation expenditures is mobile computer terminals for the fire department.

Meyer said the terminals would give firefighters access to information such as business licenses or contact information for property owners while they are en route to a fire.

"It's really helpful to their safety to have that information available to them," he said.

The ordinance also would authorize the purchase of energy management software for the public works department.

Meyer said the software monitors building usage and turns air conditioners or other appliances down or off to save power when the building is empty.

"It's kind of interactive. It's kind of a neat thing," he said.

As with the e-ticketing system, the energy management software eventually would pay for itself, Meyer said.

"That's really the whole focus of innovation -- to have those paybacks," he said.

Public works also could receive traffic-management software that monitors traffic and allows the city to adjust signals for maximum efficiency, Meyer said.

Another expenditure could make it easier for residents to sign up for programs through the parks and recreation department, he said.

The department is looking to buy new registration software that would let people sign up and pay for programs online or via mobile devices, Meyer said.

He said the new software eventually could be programmed to send reminders to users -- for instance, contacting softball players to let them know when it's time to sign up for a new season or telling gym users how long it has been since their last workout.

"Eventually, my dream is that it will know when you come and work out, and when you didn't come and work out for a week, it'll get onto you," Meyer said. "That's quite a ways off."

epriddy@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Cape Girardeau, Mo.