Milestones:

In 1998 the BHPD was the first municipal police department in Prince George’s County to place large, oversized numbers on the roofs of all the marked patrol cars in the fleet.  This aids helicopter pilots in identifying individual cruisers during chases and other special operations.  As of May 2002, the BHPD remains one of the few police departments with these important markings, even though the number of law enforcement helicopters has increased over the years.

In May of 2000 the BHPD was the second police department in the entire Washington-Metropolitan area to list its website address on the side of the marked patrol car fleet.  As of May 2002, it remains one of the few police departments in the entire area with a web address incorporated into its vehicle graphics.

In November of 2001 the BHPD, with the assistance of a grant from the State of Maryland, purchased and installed Mobile Data Terminals (MDT’s) in each of the department’s patrol cars.  These “mini computers” allow the officers to check Driver’s Licenses, Vehicle Registrations, and Open Warrants, through State, Federal and Local databases.  As of May 2002 there are only five police departments in all of Prince Georges County, which have MDT’s.  Berwyn Heights Police Department is proud to be one of those agencies.

 
In January 2002 the BHPD devised a report writing system to work in conjunction with the vehicle Mobile Data Terminals.  Officers can now complete police reports in the field, thus reducing “downtime,” and assuring a more accurate report. Officers send the completed report form back to the police headquarters “electronically,” where it is printed and filed for follow up investigation.

As of May 2002, the Berwyn Heights PD is the ONLY police department in Prince Georges County with a functional, operating, mobile police reporting system.  It is so popular in fact that the BHPD has been asked to travel to other jurisdictions to demonstrate the agency's program.

 
In March 2002 the BHPD developed a “computerized” version of the Maryland State Motor Vehicle Accident Report which could be completed by officers on their Mobile Data Terminals, and submitted it to the Maryland State Police for possible approval as an official State form.  (This had always been a “hand written” type of report.)  They were so impressed with it, that they approved its use as a “Pilot Program Report,” with possible future use Statewide.  Six months later the form was officially approved for use, and has since reduced the amount of time it takes an officer to write an automobile accident report substantially, as the Accident Report has "drop down" boxes for all of the required report codes, including all of the Highway Locator Roadways in the Berwyn Heights jurisdiction.  (Click Here to see a copy of the Computerized MAARS Report)

In January of 2003, the Berwyn Heights Police Department began testing a program of printing forms in police cruisers. 
Currently two cars have been equipped with "HP Mobile 450" Printers, and are being used to print Parking Citations, Written Traffic Warnings, and several other "on the spot" forms.  Just like the regular police report forms, the data from the citations is transmitted to the police station at the end of the officer's shift, so that additional copies of the forms may be printed out for filing, court purposes, etc.  In addition, a "database" of citation information is automatically updated each time a form is sent in, making it a simple task to research past violations.  In addition, the cruisers are equipped with a small "Driver's License Scanner," which captures a picture of the entire driver's license, and incorporates it into the "Officer's Copy" of the citation.  When an officer appears in court for trial, a picture of the Defendant from the driver's license photo aids the officer with identification, and reduces the chances of mistaken identity.

So far the results have been successful, however a six-month evaluation will determine if the program will be extended to all of the agency's patrol car fleet.

 
In May of 2003, the Berwyn Heights Police Department created a "computerized" version of the Maryland Uniform Complaint & Citation (DR-49), more commonly referred to as the "State Citation."  This is the traffic citation that is used by all police agencies in the State of Maryland for moving violations, and it's design and use is regulated by the District Court, and the Maryland Automated Traffic System. (M.A.T.S.)  Since this has always been a "hand-written" type of form, the police department was informed by several sources that the State would "never allow any version this ticket which deviated from the original design, especially one that was computer generated and printed in the car!"

On June 11, 2003, Corporal Richard Hartnett & Corporal Billy Sullivan traveled to the District Court Headquarters in Annapolis, Maryland, to give a demonstration of the computerized DR-49 to the Honorable James N. Vaughn, Chief Judge of the District Court, along with several other members of the court, and various personnel from the Maryland Automated Traffic System.

At the conclusion of the demonstration, Chief Judge Vaughn was so impressed with the computerized version of the State Traffic Citation, that he granted the Berwyn Heights Police Department permission to immediately begin issuing the computerized version of the State Citation in lieu of the hand-written one, and to continue to do so for a period of six (6) months, so that the department and the court could evaluate its effectiveness in a "real world" environment, and to decide if this new version of the Uniform
Complaint & Citation should one day be utilized "state-wide."

The Berwyn Heights Police Department officially began issuing the new citations on July 1, 2003, and will be the only police department in the entire State of Maryland authorized to do so.

A few minor modifications were made to the original design of the citation in order to make it more "computer friendly," and the Chief Judge accepted these changes.  To see an actual copy of the new computerized Uniform Complaint & Citation (DR-49),  Click Here.

The trial period for the Electronic/Computerized State Traffic Citation Program was originally scheduled to end on December 31, 2003.  The officials at M.A.T.S. have asked us to continue with the program until further notice, so that they may continue to evaluate the system.  So far they have been overly impressed  with the computerized citations, and several members of M.A.T.S. have stated that they wished all of the citations submitted by the various police departments throughout the state were as easy to read as those submitted by the Berwyn Heights Police Department! 

Currently the Original ("Court") Copy of the citation is mailed to the District Court, after having been printed in the patrol car.  This is the required method of the court, and has been for many, many years.  The problem is that traffic citations are a "timely" form, and as such, they have to be mailed in to the court very shortly after having been issued.  This causes some agencies to spend an inordinate amount of money on postage, as some are mailing citations out almost every day.

Our eventual goal is to "send" the data from the citations directly to the court, in the same manner with which we currently send it to the police station.  This will eliminate the mailing of the paper form, and give the court "raw data," which can be imported directly to their master database.  (Currently this information is entered by hand, and is very time consuming for the data entry people.  Imagine how many citations are issued by police officers throughout the entire State of Maryland on any given day. 
Every one of those citations must eventually be entered in the system by hand, and it must be done within a reasonable amount    of time.)

Sending the raw data to the court for immediate importation into their database will eliminate that process completely.  The computerized citation program developed by the Berwyn Heights Police Department is already set up to send this data, however
that method has not yet been approved by the court.  The main reason for this lies with the Defendant's Signature.  The police officer that issues the citation has the driver sign the original (court) copy of the citation, and that is the copy which is mailed to the court.  Sending the raw data to the court would not provide the signature, and since a traffic citation is technically a "Charging Document," the law requires that the driver's (Defendant's) signature appear on it.

We however are constantly striving to improve our technology, and we feel confidant that one-day in the near future, we will be dealing with a "paperless" system of court citation transmittal.

 
As of October 2003, we have four (4) cruisers equipped with the Computerized Traffic Citation System, and plan to have all of the marked patrol cars equipped before the end of the fiscal year.

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On January 10, 2004, Berwyn Heights Police Department receives approval from the Maryland State Police - Automotive Safety Equipment Division (ASED) to begin a pilot program of issuing Computerized/Electronic versions of the Maryland Safety Equipment Repair Order.  (Form MSP #157).  Bureau Commander Lieutenant Robert Bambary and his data entry staff are  extremely impressed with the computerized forms, as they are now able to clearly decipher the vehicle information as it is entered on the forms.  Like traffic citations, these forms are normally hand-written, and the data entry team often has difficulty reading the vehicle VIN and TITLE numbers.  The new computerized forms will help speed up the data entry process.

 
On January 20, 2004, Berwyn Heights Police Department switches its first patrol car's wireless modem over from the slower CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) technology, to the newer 1xRTT (CDMA 2000), which runs about 300% faster.  This will enable enhanced services over the wireless network.  (Click Here for Additional Information)

 
On February 5, 2004, Corporal Richard Hartnett & Police Clerk Camille Carter meet with Mr. William Hume, Data Processing supervisor for the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration & Lt. Robert Bambary of the Maryland State Police, at the MVA Headquarters in Glen Burnie, Maryland.  The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a system whereby the Berwyn Heights Police Department could electronically "send" the Safety Equipment Repair Order data directly to the MVA Computer Mainframe, which would avoid having to physically mail the original copies of the Repair Orders to the ASED, where a clerk has to manually enter the data.  (MSP/ASED uses the MVA computer system as its Repair Order database)  This may be possible as the Berwyn Heights Police Department is now issuing "electronic" versions of the Safety Equipment Repair Order, and the data from each form, which is normally transmitted to the police headquarters, may also be able to be imported into the MVA database, using an ASCII-Text format.  Once this system is in place, it will be the first time a "citation" of any sort in Maryland has had it's data electronically transmitted to the MVA, or any other location for that matter, other than to the master database at the police headquarters.  Since this is a "timely" form, sending data directly to the MVA database would bypass the data entry person entirely, and assure the ASED staff that the information has been entered in the shortest possible time after the Repair Order was issued.  More information will be available on this process as it develops.