eCite

About

Cite is an Electronic Citation Generation and Processing System.

It was developed as a process-level solution to the outdated and time-consuming paper citation form used by law enforcement and the court system. Citations generated through eCite are quick, accurate, secure, and legible.

eCite is more than a form. The vision for eCite was born out of the needs of the court system for timely and secure access to accurate citation data, but citation data was originated by law enforcement. Therefore, CAPS developed the eCite system as a means of collecting, cleaning, and analyzing data and making that data easily accessible by all agencies involved.

The eCite system is fully integrated into the Mobile Officers’ Virtual Environment (MOVE) and is not offered as a stand-alone product.

Process

eCite enables the entire citation process, from citation issuance to transferring citation data to the district court system, to be completed 100 percent electronically. NO hand-entered data!

The multiple users, interfaces, equipment, and state legislation involved this process solution illustrates CAPS’ integrated systems approach to software design and problem-solving.

eCite is utilized by officers in the field to issue tickets, print a copy for the violator, and transmit the data to a server repository using a laptop, notebook, or tablet PC.

eCite improves an officer’s safety and efficiency by enabling faster citation issuance, reducing exposure to a potentially dangerous defendant, and the ability to validate a defendant’s identity and view their previous records. Redundant paperwork is eliminated through an integrated activity logbook. These factors allow officers to spend a greater percentage of their shift in patrol and results in increased job satisfaction.

Law enforcement and court system personnel access officers submit data through CAPS developed administrative portals, eSwear, eSearch, and Advance.

The suite of administrative tools supports the electronic filing of citations with the court system, as well as the backend processing and archiving of the citation data.

• eSwear is a virtual swearing process that allows the officer to swear to the authenticity of the ticket and the clerk to confirm via a touch-screen kiosk equipped with biometric-based authentication.
• eSearch enables clerks and law enforcement administrators to search, access, and evaluate existing citations. Citations can be printed from this site as needed.
• ADVANCE is a web portal dashboard enabling users to analyze and visualize data.

CAPS provides free, secure web services for law enforcement and court personnel to pull data collected in eCite into their records management systems (RMS) and court case management systems (CMS) respectively.

Overview Video

Features & MOVE Integration

• Auto-populates citation data from driver’s license barcode and magnetic stripe scanning (MOVE integration)
• Auto-populates driver’s license information (implemented by LETS-GO)
• Auto-populates certain form fields with setting defaults (e.g., county, court, etc.)
• Auto-populates driver and/or vehicle data from third-party applications (ASPEN*, etc.)
• Auto-populates location data from GPS device
• Interfaces with web pages and other applications through MOVE
• Automated data validation (checks for consistency and completeness)
• Citation replication (simplifies & speeds the writing of multiple offenses)
• Defines screen templates for customized preset values
• Automated, internet-based upload of ticket data to central data repository
• Automated, internet-based download of ticket numbers from a central repository
• Writes and tracks warning citations
• Transfers data from eCite into officer’s daily activity log through MOVE

* ASPEN is a FMCSA software for federal electronic reporting of commercial vehicle violations
Learn more about MOVE

Electronic Solution

• Issuance: via the eCite software on laptops in the officer’s vehicles
• eTransmittal: once Internet connectivity is established via cellular air cards or hot spots
• eSwear: via a computer kiosk at the clerk’s office
• eFiling: via the integrated network – no mailing of hard copies
• ePayments: via credit card over the internet
• eSearch and statistical analyses: via secure password-protected web portal

I Want eCite

Alabama Agencies
eCite is free of charge to Alabama law enforcement agencies.

New users must complete initial forms that include providing the municipal court information and municipal adopting codes. This information is necessary to customize the software before you can begin using it. User accounts will be set up for agency officers.

eCite technical support desk:
205-348-9672 | alea-caps.support@ua.edu

Training manuals are available upon request: email care@cs.ua.edu

Inquiries
eCite can be adapted for any state or municipality. If you are interested in implementing eCite, another CAPS product, or working with CAPS on a custom solution, we want to hear from you!

Training Manuals

Available upon request to eCite users. To request a manual, please email care@cs.ua.edu.