SMART trial kicks off in Southern

Southern District Police today start a month-long trial of the use of SMART (Secure Mobile Access and Reporting Technology) devices to issue infringement notices for traffic offences.

The key benefits of the devices are improved efficiency and greater accuracy.

"There will be no change to the information that is collected or stored - the technology will simply allow us to do what we've always done more efficiently," said Southern District Road Policing Manager, Inspector Andrew Burns.

Around 50 Southern District Police staff have been trained over the past month in the PDA devices which, via the use of direct data entry, will allow for greater efficiency in issuing infringement notices and retrieving data.

The devices give faster capability for staff to access information about vehicles and the people driving them following a traffic stop. The current practice is for these queries to be relayed through Police Communications Centres. However the PDAs allow an officer to access this information directly and more quickly themselves.

"In addition to direct data entry, the devices allow officers to eliminate entering repetitive details as these will be pre-populated, and will also avoid issues such as legibility of handwriting and incomplete information," Inspector Burns said.

"The public will notice very little change in the way an infringement notice is issued. The same information will be presented to them, but it will be captured in a computer generated print-out."

"Data protection law applies to any records associated with SMART, the same as all other policing activities."

Inspector Burns said the results of the month-long trial will be reviewed before a decision is made about whether the technology is to be rolled out nationwide.

Ten Commercial vehicle investigation Unit and Highway Patrol staff have been issued with the devices for their ongoing individual use, while the remaining staff from the Strategic Traffic Unit and General Duties will share the PDAs between shifts.

Southern Police District was selected for the trial because of its geography, and mix of urban and rural environments.