By Leonardo Blair, Staff ReporterA THREE-YEAR-OLD malfunction in the computer system of the Traffic Police in East Kingston has resulted in a number of persons turning up there with warrants issued for traffic fines they have already paid.
Head of statistics at the Elletson Road headquarters, Sergeant Herbert Dennis, told The Sunday Gleaner that since the nearly 10-year-old computer system went haywire in 2000 due to the Y2K glitch, "it is now a regular thing for persons (with paid-up fines) to turn up here (traffic department) with warrants issued."
Sunday Gleaner sources also point out that there have also been cases where persons have successfully sued the Government after being wrongfully arrested by the police for outstanding traffic fines. This situation compounds problems police are now experiencing in clamping down on thousands of delinquent motorists who have reneged on payment of traffic fines.
In November last year, thousands of arrest warrants were issued for motorists who have breached the road traffic laws and failed to pay their traffic fines or attend court to contest the bookings.
HARDER FOR THE COURTS
Despite that action, however, the problems currently being experienced with the computer system are making it harder for the courts and the police to conclude who paid what, in an efficient manner.
"From the Y2K (problem) we have been having numerous problems. Many things that we could access we just can't do it again. What we have left of the (computer) system now is very slow and the information is very inconclusive," says Sergeant Dennis. "Before the Y2K we were able to get diskettes from the tax office and get a print-out of those persons who have paid their tickets and so on. We would send out the lists to the Corporate Area and rural parishes so it could guide them to tell persons who have paid. Now we can't do that anymore."
The statistics head says he has already been in several official meetings with Government officials about the problem but a solution is yet to be heard.
"Recently, I know that there was some urgency to get a system in place. But I don't know how far this new initiative has reached. As the saying goes, 'it's in the pipelines'," says Sergeant Dennis.
He notes there are "hundreds, possibly thousands" of motorists driving around, whose driver's licences have accrued more than 10 demerit points making them eligible for the suspension of their licence.
The traffic police put some 13,000 motorists on arrest alert last year. In the Corporate Area alone, the police have some 11,000 arrest warrants for motorists, dating back to 1994, while other parishes such as St. James, St. Ann, St. Elizabeth, and Manchester cumulatively have more than 2,000 warrants to be executed on motorists.
According to a recent police survey, 65 per cent of motorists ticketed are not paying their fines.
The police ticketing system introduced by former Minister of National Security, K. D. Knight, in April 1993 had come with proposals to bar motorists from renewing their licences if they had outstanding traffic tickets.
"Sometime last year, I was checking information on a particular driver and that person had 199 tickets outstanding," said Sergeant Dennis.
UNAWARE OF PROBLEM
When The Sunday Gleaner contacted the Commissioner's office last week, Superintendent Ionie Ramsay-Nelson, director of the Constabulary Communi-cation Network (CCN), said she was not aware of the problem but would be meeting with senior officers on Monday to discuss it.
A motorist found liable or convicted of a traffic offence will attract demerit points as prescribed by the law. In the event that he accumulates more than 10 demerit points, he could have his driver's licence suspended for six months to two years.
