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Virtual Chalking Explanation

What

Virtual is E-Chalkingchalking (Virtual Chalking) in OPSCOM?

  • Virtual chalking, or e-chalkingchalking) is an electronic process in the OPS-COM Enforce app that precisely mirrors howthe anmanual officerchalking would manually chalkof a vehicle's tire, in ordertire to seemonitor parking durations. Its primary purpose is to help enforcement officers efficiently track time-limited parking and automatically generate time-stamped photographic evidence for potential violations and appeals. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators and field enforcement personnel.

    Setup and Configuration

    Virtual chalking is a native feature of the enforcement application and relies on system-defined grace periods to calculate parking violations.

    Admin Side: Administrators must ensure that parking lots with timed parking or permit grace periods are properly configured within the backend system settings. This ensures the handheld application knows exactly how long theya vehicle is allowed to remain parked after being chalked before it is flagged for a violation.

    User Side: Enforcement officers must have beenthe parked. OPS-COM Enforce app installed on their mobile device and be logged into an active account with device camera permissions fully enabled.

    Using this Feature

    Officers use the handheld application to record a vehicle's presence at a specific time. If the vehicle overstays the allowed time or grace period, the chalk record serves as undeniable proof for a violation.

    For detailed instructions on the complete chalking workflow and how it interacts with ticketing, see the Violations and Chalking article.

    Virtual Chalking a Vehicle

    1. Tap Search Vehicles on the handheld device to look up the offending vehicle.

    2. Virtual chalking creates a Time-Stamped image, of both

      Capture the license plate &using the entireLPR car,camera, intext orderinput, or voice command.

    3. Tap the Virtual Chalk button to trackimmediately howcreate longthe they'vetime-stamped beenrecord parkedand start the grace period timer.

    4. Capture a contextual image of the vehicle manually if you entered the plate via text or voice. (LPR captures automatically take both a close-up of the plate and a contextual full-back image with time stamps).

    Court-Admissible Evidence Virtual chalking provides ana photographic image that canis beseamlessly attached to the violationviolation. andThis evidence is generally acceptable in a court-of-court of law, provided the date/date and time stamp is clearly visible &on clear.  the image.

    Best Practices and Considerations

    • Capture contextual images for manual entries: If you enter a plate via text or voice when chalking, you must manually take a contextual image to record the time stamp. The system only captures these automatically during LPR camera mode.

    • Take multiple images when issuing violations: When capturing the plate a second time to issue the actual violation, take multiple images. Using both the timestamped image and the time printed on the ticket allows you to definitively calculate and prove the time the vehicle was parked. There is no limit to the number of images you can attach.

    • Preserve your evidence: The chalked image isautomatically becomes part of the violation, violation unless the patrol officer manually deletes the imageimage. Never delete these images in the field, as they are crucial for dealing with client disputes and formal appeals.. 

    • When LPR software is capturing plates, officers can simply click "Virtual Chalk"  to create/save the image 

Why "Chalk" a Vehicle?

There are some situations whereLeverage chalking is very useful, for example;grace Ifperiods: Use virtual chalking to manage grace periods efficiently. For example, if a vehicle is parked and the owner is goingwalking to a pay station to purchase a permit, therechalking canthe bevehicle allows a fair grace period tofor allow the clientthem to obtain theit permitbefore anda return to the vehicle to display the permit. Alternately, in areas where parkingviolation is providedissued on a timedsubsequent basispatrol where a vehicle can park free for 2 hours, the officer can virtually chalk the vehicle on a first pass earlier in the day and then be able to check the vehicle later in the day to determine if it has been parked longer than the permitted time frame.pass.

Chalking vehicles manually is time consuming, so being able to virtually-chalk vehicles makes a time-efficient solution for a necessary aspect of parking management.

Chalk records stored with a violation help when dealing with Appeals as a time-stamped image is available as "proof" of the infraction.

For a guide on how to "Chalk" a vehicle on the handhelds, click here

NOTE: 

Chalking  can be done in a couple of ways. If you are photographing the plate to read it through character recognition the system automatically captures a close up image of the plate as well as a contextual image of the full back of the vehicle. Both are time stamped. 

If you enter in a plate via text or voice when chalking you will want to take a contextual image so that you record the time stamp.

The same is true when you actually capture the plate a second time and then issue a violation. It's advisable to take a couple images at least, plus you have the time on the ticket that the violation was written so using both methods (timestamp and time on printed ticket) you can calculate the time the vehicle was parked.  There is no limit as to how many images you can take.

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