WILTSHIRE police have gone gadget-mad after testing a digital pen, which remembers what is written.
The pens were used in a six-week pilot scheme with the aim of reducing the burden of administrative duties on officers and getting them out on to the streets.
The pens were used by eight traffic officers to fill out standard fixed penalty forms. The pens, which were designed and developed by IT firm Hewlett Packard, communicated with police computers via a special cradle.
The officers completed a total of 117 penalty notices using pens, of which 52 per cent were totally accurate.
That figure rose to to 65 per cent once other conditions had been taken into account.
The remainder needed some manual input.
Now that the trial has ended the firm will continue to develop the system for future use in policing.
Chief Superintendent Ian Maidment, the head of corporate development and e-policing said: "Initiatives such as these are an important part of the development of the force and the way in which effective policing is delivered."
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