Getting a traffic ticket can take a long time. People speeding to make it to an appointment can guarantee they will be late if they're pulled over.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department is speeding up the process at least a little bit.

The department's traffic division has been using four e-ticketing devices -- which are something between a Blackberry and tablet in appearance -- this past week.

The devices can scan in a driver's license and registration information, immediately filling in the blanks on the citation form and putting on a court date.

"You can issue multiple citations with the click of a button," Cpl. J.P. Jurgens of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said.

"A driver with improper registration, no insurance and no driver's license, and all those violations are right there."

Jurgens has been using an e-ticket device since Dec. 21 and, after a bit of a learning curve, is processing tickets much faster.

In two to four weeks, the department will be using 42 e-ticket devices with the goal being to process all municipal citations with the system, including items such as shoplifting and other misdemeanors.

The department has been implementing an e-ticket system for the past year.

Cpl. Darin Hickey said in 2014 the department hoped the e-ticketing devices would reduce errors, save time on data entry and improve officer safety by reducing the time police spend standing on the side of the road, outside their cars.

Jurgens said there have been some kinks with making sure the ticket information gets to the right people at municipal court.

The devices and the software were paid for in part by a grant.

bkleine@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

40 S. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, Mo