Technology to boost police crackdown on traffic breaches
Published:Friday | January 20, 2023 | 12:48 AM
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has been equipped with 750 handsets and 750 printers to boost its capacity and efficiency to handle road traffic offences.
The Traffic Ticket Management System (TTMS), or e-ticketing portal, was piloted last year between January and March.
In his remarks, Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson shared that some 720,000 traffic tickets were issued last year, an increase from an average year-on-year figure of 500,000.
He said 70 devices were used during the pilot phase of the project, which accounted for 70,000 of the tickets that were issued in 2022.
The commissioner explained that he expects that there may be an increase in the number of tickets once the devices are operational - and then a decrease, which will come about when Jamaicans begin to abide by the rules of the road.
“We are not in search of revenue through ticketing. We are in search of better public order and better traffic management,” he said, adding that the devices will also provide officers with a lot of information at their fingertips.
Anderson said that approximately one million vehicles are registered across the country.
“We will be out there as a police force using these new technologies to more efficiently and effectively regulate what is going on. So my recommendation is, do not do the things to get the tickets. An officer is probably 10 times more efficient in terms of writing a ticket with this system,” he said.
During a demo of the system, Constable Morata Murdock explained that searches can be initiated by entering either the licence plate number or the tax registration number of the driver.
In addition to generating tickets, the system details driver information and a photograph; vehicle model; registration, fitness, and insurance; outstanding ticket warrants. It also indicates if the vehicle has been reported stolen or if the driver is a person of interest.
She also shared that the system can accept driver’s licences from other countries.
The new Road Traffic Act will take effect in February.
Meanwhile, Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang said that up to December 2021, the only ticketing mechanism available to the JCF was the yellow ticket book.
Over time, he said these ticket books have become a basis for allegations of corrupt practices in law enforcement.
“The Government fully endorses this digitised approach to traffic enforcement, and we recognise that full implementation of this system will contribute significantly to maintaining order on our roadways and save Jamaican lives,” the minister said.
Chang added that the handover of the 750 printers and 750 handsets is but a first instalment of devices towards the nationwide implementation of a fully digitised ticketing system.