September 27, 2005
By Anish Abraham
BEWARE: the long arm of the law is now a little longer. Joburg's metro police has pioneered a unique, hi-tech system that gives it the capacity to print summonses and issue warrants of arrest by the roadside.
"This new mobile system will take South Africa's road policing to the next level," said Chris Ngcobo, the chief of metro police, at a press briefing at the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) headquarters in Martindale on 27 September.
The system has a mobile summons-printing and warrant-faxing capability that allows it to reissue summonses and produce copies of warrants to offenders at the roadside.
It was created for the JMPD by 2Big Mobile, a black economic empowerment company based in Bryanston.
"With this new system motorists will instantly receive their summons and be prompted to sign acknowledgement of receipt after receiving them," Ngcobo added.
He stressed, however, that the police could only apprehend those people who had warrants of arrest against them.
"We are not acting illegally. The law allows for us to use a copy or fax of the summons or warrant of arrest," he explained.
The new system is part of 2Big Mobile's Integrated Information Management System (I2MS), which allows officers to check for outstanding fines by entering a car's registration number into their cellphones.
"It is a unique and patented system and the JMPD is the first to use it," said Mokgatle Maesela, the executive director of 2Big Mobile.
"This mobile centre is just the third of six modules in the completed system, which we hope to have running by the end of 2006."
Metro police has four branded trailers on the road, each equipped with laptop computers, a fax machine and a printer, all of which are connected to an information database by means of cellular GPRS, or General Packet Radio Service.
The system eventually will be upgraded to take full advantage of new technologies like 3G and wireless broadband connectivity.
Other capabilities being looked at include giving motorists the option to pay their fines at the roadside, using debit or credit cards.
In addition, motorists will soon be able to check for outstanding summonses and warrants on the City's e-services website.
Metro police records show that there are up to 750 000 unresolved traffic violations cases, because motorists have not received their fines or summonses at their residential addresses.
"We have been trying to close legal loopholes in traffic and by-law enforcement systems while we have also been faced with many idle cases and warrants," Ngcobo said.
"We are very happy as this system will address these challenges and help us locate motorists."
However, issuing summonses and warrants at the roadside is just one part of a holistic approach that the metro police is using to carry out its mandate to prevent crime, enforce by-laws and regulate traffic.
Set up just over a month ago, the Offender Notification Contact Centre telephones motorists to inform them of outstanding fines.
Motorists will be able to pay their fines over the phone using a credit card.
Also operating through 2Big Mobile's I2MS system, the initiative forms part of the JMPD's Operation Token Days, a 500-day crime prevention campaign that was launched in 2004.
"Our main function is to ensure motorists are aware of their unpaid fines, summonses and warrants," said Jacqui Nkosi, a supervisor at the centre.
The centre has made more than 4 000 calls since the end of August, attempting to trace motorists who have outstanding fines, summonses and warrants.
Maesela envisages an almost Orwellian system that will give commanding officers real-time pictures and information about officers on patrol, as well as feed from CCTV cameras.
"We are confident that this system will further improve the effectiveness of I2MS and Operation Token Days," Ngcobo said.
"We hope to see an increasing rate of traffic fine payments and a decreasing number of stagnant cases."
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