After 107 years of print, the West Vancouver Police Department is going digital.
The municipal police agency is the latest to switch from old-fashioned ticket books for speeders and red light runners, to e-tickets.
“Really, the focus is on using a more efficient system to allow for more time spent on road safety and enforcement,” said Const. Kevin Goodmurphy, West Vancouver police spokesman.
If you’re in a hurry, not to worry. Goodmurphy said the e-ticket is faster than the traditional carbon copies. With a swipe of a driver’s licence card, the information is automatically entered into the system and sent to ICBC, and then printed out for the driver.
“They can essentially go online and pay that ticket immediately if they wish to do that. The dispute process has stayed the same,” Goodmurphy said.
It should also mean fewer traffic fines being tossed out in court due to human error when filling out the ticket, Goodmurphy said.
The province has been urging police departments to make the switch and is partially funding the cost of the machines and training. Delta police began piloting the machines last year.
Since July 31, 146 residents or visitors have had the pleasure of being ticketed in the modern age.
So far in 2019, West Vancouver police have issued 1,973 violation tickets, down significantly from the 2,894 officers handed out by the same time last year.
Goodmurphy said it’s hard to know exactly why the number of tickets had dropped by one-third, but he said it may be related to more officers taking on extra training opportunities in 2019 and one long-term absentee from the traffic section.
