Technology may help Idaho State Police issue more tickets even though initial results show a slight decrease.

A new electronic ticketing system installed in most police cruisers last month lets officers ticket drivers more quickly and spend less time on the side of the road, according to an ISP statement.

Officers using the new system issued 7,025 citations in July compared to 7,081 in July of 2009, but the number this year probably is higher than reported.

Capt. Eric Dayley told IdahoReporter.com ISP did not install the system in police cruisers close to being decommissioned, and tickets from those officers are not in the official count.

Dayley is unsure of how many paper tickets were issued in July.  "At a guess, I would say you could probably add about 1,000 tickets to the 2010 number, but that would only be a guess," He said the department couldn't find data on paper tickets because, "We are still trying to work out the interface between the old system and the new system."

The new system, funded by $900,000 of President Obama's stimulus package, is expected to cut down on the time it takes to issue a citation by about 80 percent.  The system is all-electronic and allows officers to enter drivers' information with a handheld scanner.

Tickets print similar to a receipt at a store, and drivers no longer have to sign.   "The entire process of completing citations will go from a five-minute process to one that takes less than a minute.  This will result in reduced time on the side of the highway for our troopers and the public, which is safer for both," Dayley said in a news release in June.

The department said the system would increase safety for officers, who are sometimes injured by inattentive drivers.