Lubbock hopes new citation app will protect police officers.

Written by Olivia O’Rand - oorand@ttu.edu

The Lubbock Police Department is expanding the use of an e-citation app to speed up the process of writing tickets. 

According to a press release, the new app allows officers to scan barcodes on driver’s licenses as well as registration and VIN numbers, eliminating the need to write down the numbers by hand. 

Developed by Tyler Technologies, the app helps reduce the amount of time officers spend on the side of the road,

Officer safety was a big factor in deciding to switch to the app, said Kasie Davis, a public information officer for LPD. An officer was struck and killed five years ago while working a traffic collision.  

Davis added that traffic-specific units in town have been using a version of the app since 2009. 

Nearly 14% of accidental officer deaths are due to an officer being struck by a vehicle, according to FBI data from January to August 2024. 

While the app does not make the job any safer, said Lt. Brady Cross,  it does help to speed up a routine traffic stop. Forgetting items such as driver's license or registration can increase the time of stops, furthering the time officers have to spend near traffic. 

“They don’t make our lights any brighter, our cars any bigger, but if we can reduce the amount of time we’re on the side of the road, it in itself reduces the risk of an accident,” Cross said. 

The sooner officers can get back to their vehicles and back on the road, the safer it is for both officers and citizens, Davis said. 

And the app is doing just that. Traffic stops that may have taken 10 minutes before are now taking as little as three minutes. 

Some in the public, however, worry about the security of their information. But Davis was quick to mention that the app does not save pictures of identification numbers to the officer’s phone, which was the main concern for many.

LPD has worked to train officers to use the app over the past several weeks and will continue to do so going forward. 

“Please be patient, they’re still practicing,” Davis said. “Just like anything else, the more you do something, the more efficient you will become.”