The city hopes the software will make the area safer by creating a more efficient system within the courts and police department. If other areas purchase similar software, it will also streamline the process of sharing records between municipalities, something that has become a concern following Sept. 11.

Once the software is installed, it will create a searchable database of any surname in the system, including witnesses, victims and criminals. Patrol officers will also be able to download their day's activities via a wireless Internet connection between the police department's main computer and the officers' handheld devices, eliminating hours of paperwork in which officers would typically fill out reports and daily logs.

In approving the purchase, the city council approved the expenditure of more than $35,400 in funds, which will include an initial down payment of $28,742, two monthly payments of $1,597 and about $3,500 for the setup of a server and wireless connection.

Oak Ridge North Chief of Police Andy "A.T." Walters said the police department decided to look into Cardinal's products after finding that the department's current software was no longer on the market, making updating it and servicing it difficult."The old police software is based on an off-the-shelf product no longer available," he said. "As we looked deeper into the electronic ticketing software in conjunction with the courts software, we found that Cardinal software provides all three."

Cardinal Tracking, headquartered near Dallas, has been in business since 1982, and began providing automated citation systems to police departments and universities 20 years ago. Cardinal was the first company to use touch-screen handheld computers to issue citations. In Texas, more than 120 police departments and courts use the company's BADGE SE computer systems.

Features of the Police Records Management System Software include state-approved racial profiling reporting, mug shots for names, image downloads for crime scene photos, summary functions that will provide overviews of incidents, audit tracking and seamless integration with other BADGE SE products.

The Court Records Management System will allow the city to search using easy-to-learn search query language, provide complete citation, docket and warrant information, automatically calculate fees and fines and track payments, and schedule court dates and track bonds, among other tasks.

The MobileCite Automated Citation Issuance software will allow officers and violators to electronically sign tickets, scan the magnetic stripes on the back of driver's licenses to minimize data entry for an officer, and automatically save and allow officers to wirelessly synchronize their handheld computers with the department's main computer.
Advantages of this system, as outlined in a packet provided to members of the city council, include decreasing double entry of tickets, making tickets more legible, making citations easier to search and look up, and allowing officers to search, for example, the most issued citations. Officers will also be able to print shift summaries, reprint tickets and easily edit any changes in fees or fines so that all the handheld devices are updated at once.

Steve Puente, regional sales manager for Cardinal, addressed the council by saying that new technology made this purchase ideal for Oak Ridge's police department. Only since the advent of personal digital assistants, such as Palm Pilots, has Cardinal been able to provide electronic citation software.The ORN Police Department will use Microsoft's Pocket PC Operating Device on PDAs.

"The big push right now, after Sept. 11, is in connectivity," Puente said, adding that the company hopes to encourage other municipalities in the area to switch to its software for better communication.
The software should be installed within the next five to seven weeks, Puente said. Cardinal will install the software and test it on site, as well as provide some initial training to members of the Oak Ridge Police Department there. Officers will then travel to Cardinal's offices in Flower Mound, Texas, for additional training.
The contract also provides for one year of 24-hour technical support for the police department.

Brittanie Hoofard may be reached via e-mail at bhoofard@mail.hcnonline.net.