Mineola, NY- Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi announced today that the Nassau County Police Department has begun using a new computerized system known as TraCS (Traffic and Criminal Software), which allows police officers to issue electronic tickets for traffic violations using laptop computers and printers installed in police vehicles, saving residents time and increasing efficiency at several county agencies. The County Executive was joined by Commissioner of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and Chairman of the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) Raymond Martinez, Nassau County Police Commissioner James H. Lawrence, and Regional Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Thomas S. Louizo.

"Our priority in Nassau County is always the protection of the public safety. This new technology will allow our officers to conduct their business quickly and efficiently," said County Executive Suozzi. "Motorists will spend less time sitting in their vehicles on the side of the road and the police will be able to get back on the road more quickly in order to continue to enforce the law."

Nassau County received a $500,000 grant from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee which provided laptop computers, printers and optical scanners for 44 police patrol cars. One half of the cars installed with laptops are assigned to the Highway Patrol Bureau, which wrote 50,506 of Nassau County's moving violations in 2004 and the other half of the vehicles receiving laptops will be assigned to the Eighth Precinct to conduct a pilot program testing the accident reporting function of the TraCS program. The Police Department intends to compile and develop a computerized accident database that county agencies will be able to access quickly and efficiently for a variety of purposes.

"The implementation of the TraCS program in Nassau County is a terrific example of the State's commitment to partnering with local law enforcement to save lives on New York's roadways," New York State DMV Commissioner and GTSC Chairman Raymond P. Martinez said. "This innovative program automates the processing of traffic records, reduces the likelihood of a police officer being struck by a passing motorist during a routine traffic stop, streamlines bureaucracy and, overall, provides us another effective tool in keeping the State's roadways among the safest in the nation."

The TraCS technology allows quick access to information on all motorists pulled over in traffic stops, and an officer will be able to determine if a license is suspended or revoked, if a vehicle is stolen or if the motorist has an outstanding criminal warrant. The electronic production of tickets also virtually eliminates data entry errors, handwriting illegibility, and late submission of supporting depositions, which results in fewer court dismissals of traffic tickets. TraCS can also produce an electronic accident report that can be transmitted electronically to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Albany.

"TraCs technology is a means toward streamlining the traffic ticket and accident reporting process and providing the officer on patrol with the information necessary to accurately complete the process," said Police Commissioner James H. Lawrence.

The county can also begin to collect and organize traffic and crash data in ways that can be easily and quickly monitored and analyzed and will be able to assess with accuracy the size of each traffic problem, the threat to the public safety and the most effective ways to develop viable countermeasures using resources already available.

"Our goal is to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities along with the heavy emotional and financial costs that always result from these devastating incidents," said the County Executive.