The Imperial City Council unanimously approved a five-year agreement Wednesday with Turbo Data Systems Incorporated to provide citation processing and collections services for the Imperial Police Department, primarily focused on parking enforcement.

Police Chief Bridal told the council the vendor has roughly 40 years of experience in collections and citation management and that the service will reduce staff time currently used to send mailers and pursue unpaid citations. The contract is scalable, Chief Bridal said, and could later support a handheld, automated ticket-writing system that would replace paper triplicates.

Council members asked administrative questions about current practice and enforcement levels. Chief Bridal said the department currently uses staff mailings and that enforcement rates vary; parking fines depend on the violation, with ordinance fines generally in the $30–$50 range and handicap violations potentially reaching several hundred dollars.

A motion to approve the five-year agreement passed 5-0. Councilors and staff said the change is intended to professionalize collections, reduce recurring staff time devoted to unpaid citations and allow the department to add digital enforcement tools later if desired.

Why it matters: The agreement centralizes citation collections and could affect residents who receive parking citations. Staff said the program is meant to improve collection rates and free police staff for other duties; the council did not change fine amounts as part of this agenda item.