Once again the Corpus Christi Fire Department  and Police Department teamed up patrolling the streets of Corpus Christi enforcing the City’s Fireworks Ordinance which bans fireworks within the city.

Fire officials received 357 citizen reports concerning fireworks in an 8 hour period (4:00PM – 12:00AM).  Fire Inspectors responded to many of these calls which allowed emergency crews to remain available and to respond for real emergencies in their districts.

Police and Fire Department officials issued approximately 50 citations to violators during the dates of December 28, 2011 through January 1, 2012.  The Corpus Christi Police Department destroyed over 1000 packages of confiscated fire works.

Both the CCFD and CCPD wants the public to remember that even though the holiday season is over the ban on fireworks remains in effect year round.

The Corpus Christi Police Department New Year’s Enforcement campaign which began December 30, 2011 and ended January 2, 2012 yielded 18 D.W.I. arrests.  The Police Department had 15 D.W.I. arrests for the same time period during  last New Year’s weekend.

The arrests include offenses such as DWI, Driving with a Child Passenger, DWI with Two or More Prior Offenses, along with Intoxicated Assault, or Manslaughter.  A total of 900 individuals were arrested for DWI related offenses in 2011, while there were 979 arrests for the same DWI related offense in 2010.

Dan Stiefel, the owner of Green N Go Cab and Super Yellow Cab reported 226 free rides were provided this year, an increase from 176 free rides in 2010. 

Jerry D. Pogue, Operations Manager with Apollo Towing  Service and Easy Rider Wrecker reported seven vehicles were towed home free of charge.

After 16 months of research and design, the Corpus Christi Police Department will soon launch the 2^nd phase of the Parking Control unit upgrades. In the ongoing first phase, parking meter rates were increased and technology-based parking meters replaced 35-50 year old mechanical meters. Soon the new credit card meters will be installed.  The new meters are projected to pay for themselves within a 12 month period, due to increased efficiency and added payment options. Within three years, 40% of the gross revenue will go into a revitalization project for downtown, uptown and Corpus Christi Beach. 

Phase Two addresses the enforcement, citation and adjudication process. The majority of parking violations will be issued on electronic ticket-writers; used by cities nationwide. The new electronic citations will look similar to the hand-written version, but will be inserted into one of two multi-colored envelopes designating the court of jurisdiction, then placed under the windshield wiper of the violator’s vehicle. 

The savings created by the electronic ticket-writers and additional revenue generated by their efficiency is noteworthy. The 20,000+ parking citations (including disabled parking violations) generated annually by hand-written citations require one to two employees just to enter them into the system. 

Studies have shown that in the best of systems only 80% of hand-written citations are entered; cities with electronic ticket writers see 99% of tickets processed and entered. This provides for a significant increase in revenue. 

The launch of the new Office of Administrative Hearings (civil court) further reduces the city’s operational cost of adjudicating parking citations, increases efficiency of collecting those debts generated by violators, and offers numerous simplified payment options. 

Corpus Christi joins the majority of cities nationwide in decriminalizing most parking citations to civil violations, much like the Red Light Camera violations. Some parking offenses, however, such as disabled parking, fire lanes, blocking sidewalks and blocking fire hydrants remain criminal violations by state statutes. 

The staffing and operational costs of civil courts are much lower than traditional courts and the simplified adjudication process and payment options help reduce the tension in violators. 

The new Corpus Christi system is state-of-the-art technology, fully automated and virtually paperless. Where the criminal adjudication system currently only allows only for payments by mail or paying in person, the new civil system provides violators with multiple payment options. Violators can now pay online, pay by phone, pay by mail and pay in-person. Beginning in February, violators will be able to pay-by-smart phone, and beginning in March payments can be made at an electronic kiosk located in the court lobby. 

Violators who wish to challenge parking citations can simply walk into the civil court weekdays between the hours of 10:00 am and 6:00 pm and have the case heard by a Hearing Officer in minutes. 

This project includes partnering the city with Brazos Technologies and Duncan Solutions. “Our adjudication system with Duncan Solutions includes a web-based management software along with the outsourcing of the citation, payment, collection and accounting processing, with a professionally manned call center operating Monday through Friday from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm” states City Parking Control Supervisor Marc Denson. “This allows for exceptional customer service and significantly reduced operational costs.

 The partnership with Brazos Technologies improves systems integrity and accountability, while providing for the automated uploading of citations consistently throughout the day and automatically fed into the court software system. No more standing in long lines at the counter or waiting days for the citation to get in the system.” 

Denson adds, “Let’s face it, none of us like getting a ticket, but exceptional customer service, the speed and efficiency of the system and simplified payment options should take some of the sting out of the process.