NOLENSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nolensville police officers now have a tool that speeds up traffic stops. The department has purchased several e-citation devices.
"With this technology, we can write a citation and get the person on their way a lot soon," said Sgt. Chris Peercy.
A major reason the department invested in the e-citation devices was an officer and motorist safety.
"The longer we're at the side of the vehicle the longer we're at risk along with the person in the vehicle. Some folks are not good about moving over like they should," said Sgt. Peercy.
By the fall, all officers will have a scanner and printer in their patrol car. The scanners copy what is on a driver's license and car registration and input the information into an electronic form which is then printed. This eliminates the officer having to hand-write the information on a paper form.
The department said it will likely save officers about five minutes and headaches down the road. According to manufacturers of e-citation devices, at least one out of every ten handwritten tickets gets thrown out for an error or illegibility.
"There's a lot of information that has to go in the citation and that's just a lot of chances for a mistake to happen," said Sgt. Peercy.
Similar devices are used by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in 93 of the state's 95 counties.
Sergeant Peercy said anything to save someone from being sideswiped is worth it.
"We've all seen when accidents have happened where they hit the police car and the car comes into the other car. This technology allows us to write the citation quicker and gets us out of harm's way that much quicker," said Sgt. Peercy.
Officers can also send e-citations directly to the courthouse. It can take days for a handwritten ticket to be entered into a court's system.
Nolensville's system was partially paid for with a grant from the Tennessee Highway Safety Office.
