Apple iPad Mini is being used by New South Wales Police for a four-week trial of the app Mobile Notices that was designed to issue traffic infringement notices.

Mobile Notices was a concept presented by frontline NSW Police officers and was created and designed by Australian-based mobile application developer, Gridstone.

For the trial of the Mobile Notices app, 20 customised Apple iPad Mini devices will be used. These devices are 4G-enabled and will be tested by the NSW Police in a number of regional areas.

According to a press release from Gridstone, the Mobile Notices is capable of doing the following:

  • Gives traffic and general duties officers the ability to perform secure live lookups of vehicle registration, licence and other information in NSW Police's central Computerised Operational Policing System (COPS)
  • Automatically capture relevant geo-location data; attach photos if required and enter additional information and notes about the incident. All the data captured by the app is immediately transmitted back to COPS and also to the NSW State Debt Recovery Office (SDRO) systems for processing.
  • Police officer can also use the app to inform the driver as to the number of points lost, the cumulative points they have incurred and the total cost of the fine for the infringement. An infringement notice is created as a PDF document, and the driver can request for it to be electronically sent via email or MMS, or delivered via post. The email or MMS notice is sent to the driver as soon as requested via the app, and the request to post is immediately processed and managed through the SDRO.

"Not only did we need a secure connection between the mobile device and NSW Police's backend systems, we also knew we were dealing with highly-sensitive personal information, so we had to ensure the security of the information we were recording and sending via the device," according to Gridstone Director Lembit Pikkat.

"The iPads are locked down, so that any information is wiped and the device reset should anyone attempt to access them without authorisation. No data relating to the infringement notices, including photos, are stored on the device once the notice has been sent. If the police officer is out of 4G or WiFi coverage at the time of completing the notice, data is queued to send immediately once the device is back in range," Mr Pikkat further explained.