The east coast got hit with the first snow of the season this weekend, which means lot of work for people, including shoveling or snow blowing their driveways and sidewalks. In Chicago, if you don't get rid of that snow you can face a fine of up to $100, thought the ordinance hasn't always been enforced as the process involved wasn't all that reliable. So, what does this have to do with BlackBerry?

The Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation is leaning towards using "mobile electronic ticketing". Chicago's 50 ward superintendents all have a BlackBerry, so all they have to do now is snap a picture of the property in violation (whether it be snow that is not removed, overgrown weeds, etc), fill in the electronic ticket, and email it all to the Law Department for processing. “We’re not doing title searches anymore. We’re not doing any type of real documentation on a lot. The GPS coordinates tell you the true coordinate, which saves a whole lot of time,” Commissioner Tom Byrne said.

The previous system involved physical pictures being stapled to a paper ticket which was then mailed off to the Law Department for a title search to determine who the property belongs to. This new system would cut the time and man hours involved in this process, and hopefully help the city crack down on all those violations.

Thanks for sending this in Silvia!

Source: Chicago Sun Times