General duties and highway patrol police are using the iPads to fill out infringement paperwork  instead of the books they would ­normally carry.

The use of the iPad means police can type in the information and ­electronically upload it to a virtual storage portal, which then updates the COPS system and informs the State Debt Recovery Office if ­necessary.

Police can also send an infringement notice to the offender via  email or text message if they give their consent. 

If not it will be sent in the mail.

Traffic and highway patrol Senior Constable Ben Fitzgerald said the iPad greatly improved his productivity because it meant he did not have to complete paperwork when he returned to the station. 

“It’s great. It makes it much quicker and saves us time at the computer doing paperwork,” he said.

“It means we can spend more time out on the road.”

The iPad app called Mobile Notices was designed and developed by a group of frontline police including Botany Bay local area command Superintendent Karen McCarthy.

She said Maitland was one of five sites across the state involved in the four-week trial and so far police had given the developers positive feedback.

If the trial is deemed successful a business case will be developed to garner funding approval and a ­tender process for suppliers would begin.

Police Minister Michael Gallacher said the trial was in line with the government’s pre-election commitment to reduce red tape.