What Happened?
The Jakarta Transportation Agency in India recently implemented the Electronic Registration Identification system (ERI) to document traffic violations without the need for police officer presence on the streets. The automated technology aims to improve the enforcement of traffic regulations while reducing the time, money and energy spent on monitoring motorists by police officers.
The Goal
One way cities nationwide are making cuts to budgets is by adopting the latest technologies to automate processes and reduce the need for manual labor. When police officers are not needed to patrol the streets for traffic violations, they are freed up to take on more pressing cases throughout the community.
How It Works
Drivers in Jakarta will have to install an on-board device that will collect and transmit data regarding the car’s owner and license plate to appropriate electronic readers deployed throughout the city. The readers will collect the information at major checkpoints such as tolls and traffic lights, and trigger the ticketing process automatically.
The readers can monitor traffic violations, document license plate numbers with high-resolution cameras and call for a citation to be sent out to the owner immediately. Police officers will also have mobile readers in their vehicles to collect violation data while on patrol to further optimize the technology.
Not only will police officers be used more efficiently for other purposes, but there will no longer be unnecessary traffic congestion as a result of violators being pulled over by police in the middle of the street. The city is also hoping to eliminate instances when police accept bribes from traffic violators to get out of citations.
Tweeting The Po-Po
In the United States, law enforcement and local government are also interested in taking advantage of technology to increase safety and reduce crime. Many communities are looking at popular social media platforms such as Twitter to communicate with residents and share valuable information to aid in crime fighting.
Twitter has acknowledged its role in community safe-keeping and made its alerts site available to government organizations at all levels, as well as national and international organizations. When a local government agency or organization signs up for Twitter alerts, they will receive push notifications or text messages on their mobile devices regarding pre-determined information.
The Twitter alerts site is specifically designed for crisis and emergency scenarios, enabling officials and decision makers to collect information in a state of chaos and share communications with a specific audience. The organizations that are approved for the program can send out a specific number of alerts each hour during a disaster scenario, but Tweets remain unlimited. Similar to the alerts sent out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission, Twitter alerts can be used to warn of impending danger and threats.
Organizations encouraged to participate in the new Twitter rollout include:
- Law enforcement
- Public safety agencies
- Municipal governments and departments or representatives
- Regional agencies
- State, federal and national agencies
- Non-governmental organizations
Tech And Crime
Gov1 has kept an eye on law enforcement trends such as installing cameras to aid in operations and other resources to improve citation efficiency.