Wisconsin law enforcement efforts can meet 21st Century challenges with the help of a bill passed by the Wisconsin Senate, according to Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.
Known as the E-signature Bill, Senate Bill 467 allows law enforcement officers to file charges with district attorney's offices electronically.
In the typical case, a law enforcement officer or his or her supervisor prepare or help prepare the complaint, drive from headquarters or a crime scene and head to the district attorney's office, wait to meet with the district attorney or an assistant district attorney, take an oath, submit the signed document, and drive back to their patrol or headquarters, Van Hollen said. This process can take considerable time, particularly in counties with understaffed district attorneys offices and large geographic areas. It's time the officer could be spending on patrol or time that is now paid for out of limited overtime budgets that are better reserved for immediate public safety needs, he said
One way to chip away at this inefficiency was raised at several county law enforcement roundtables that I've co-hosted with state legislators. If a criminal complaint could be sent to a district attorney in an electronic document with an "e-signature," it would cut down on the time and travel needed to file a complaint with the district attorney and even allow officers equipped with a laptop and a cell phone to file a complaint from a scene.
These efficiencies would multiply as computers become increasingly ubiquitous and mobile. The time spent now on unnecessary travel could increase an officer's time on the street or cut down on overtime, saving taxpayer money without infringing on public safety or fairness.
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Allowing this requires a change to state law.
Van Hollen said the bill was made possible with primary authors Rep. Gary Hebl, D-Sun Prairie, and Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, state legislators who attended many law enforcement roundtables arranged by the Attorney General's Office in their districts.
Van Hollen said during those sessions with law enforcement statewide, he repeatedly heard about the need to eliminate unnecessary tasks and maximize officers' time on the streets.
"It's time we move our law into the 21st Century and find a way to make your tax dollars do more work," Van Hollen said. "... This bill does that by making the process for filing a criminal complaint more efficient.
"I commend the Wisconsin State Senate for passing the e-signature bill on a voice vote, and I thank Senator Bob Jauch for joining me at many county roundtables, authoring this bill and working with my office to turn this simple concept into legislation, and shepherding the bill through the Senate."
