DESOTO COUNTY, MS (abc24.com) - If you're pulled over for speeding or any other violation in DeSoto County, you'll notice deputies have a new tool. The sheriff's department is the first in Mississippi to issue electronic tickets.
No more pens and paper, officers now digitally transmit information about drivers they ticket. The new process may not be any less painful, but at least it will be faster.
DeSoto deputies digitally download all the driver's information from a single scan of their license.
"It's similar to swiping a debit or credit card at a store," says Major Macon Moore. For him, electronic is much more efficient. "A lot quicker and safer for officers. They're not on the side of the road concentrating on filling out a citation. It's automatically done for them."
Not only that, it's more accurate. "It eliminates a lot of room for mistakes or losing violations," Moore tells abc24.com. "When you enter information in, there's a chance you could make an error."
Deputies are only the first part of the process.
Before a ticket can be paid, it has to be manually entered into DeSoto's court database. Paper tickets took days to process.
"Had to be handled here by a sheriff's clerk, then transported to DeSoto's Justice Court in Southaven, then the clerks there would have to manually enter all the citations."
"It was hours of work," says justice court clerk Shirely Beshears. Work that included clerks analyzing handwriting and entering each ticket individually. "1700 to 1800 tickets a month."
Now they're downloaded with a single click. "You can pay quicker and take care of your ticket faster," Beshears says.
Deputies have been using the technology for a month and a half. The only trouble they've had is when cell reception is bad. They still have to issue paper tickets every now and then when they can't pick up a signal.
