QPOLICE could soon begin issuing traffic tickets by email or MMS as officers trial a new e-ticketing syst

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"POLICE could soon begin issuing traffic tickets by email or MMS as officers trial a new e-ticketing system in Queensland.

Forty Road Policing Command officers will be part of the trial beginning today, in which officers will issue tickets from mobile devices such as iPads.

Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said the new mobile ticketing app would allow police to issue notices faster than the traditional paper-based ticketing system.

Officers will initially send out a paper ticket in the mail during the trial but once the system is rolled out officers will eventually send notices by email or MMS.

The tickets will be for traffic fines including speeding, seatbelts, mobile phones and car defects.

“How it works is when an officer intercepts a person for a traffic offence, rather than writing out a paper ticket, they’ll be entering it directly in their iPads … and entering an electronic infringement that will be issued to the motorist down the track,” Mr Gollschewski said.

Mr Gollschewski said police usually spent about 10 minutes per notice, with more than 500,000 issued a year.

The trial is expected to run for four to six weeks.

The Courier-Mail revealed in July that officers at one Brisbane traffic branch had received a memo telling them to issue 10 traffic fines per shift as part of the new e-ticketing trial. My comment QPOL said "no quota system"!!!! we all said "BS"

It told officers the trial would be “highly scrutinised by its effectiveness and use” and asked officers to “please ensure you focus all of your time issuing tickets during this period”.

“There is no hiding during this period,” the memo to Brisbane traffic staff from a metropolitan supervisor said.

“I would suggest a minimum of 10 tickets per shift/every shift. (That is only 1 ticket every 48 minutes of your shift).”

The Road Policing Command backtracked from the directive at the time and said it was not a mandatory target.

Mr Gollschewski today denied police would have any type of quota during the trial.

“There is no quotas for all for us as an organisation,” he said.

“What we’re about is reducing road trauma and increasing the community safety.”

Mr Gollschewski said when the system was rolled out across the state, drivers would continue to have the option of receiving a traffic infringement in a paper-based form.

Besides saving time for officers, police bosses also believe the new system will increase officer safety on the roads because of a reduction in intercept times.

They also said the electronic system would help officers access information in the field quicker to help identify risks and give officers more time to enforce road safety."