Skagway Police Department Relies On Zebra Card Printer To Create ID Cards For Variety Of Uses

The City of Skagway, Alaska, is located in the Upper Lynn Canal and is considered the northern most point in Southeast Alaska, 80 air miles from Juneau and 110 road miles from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. The city served as a gateway to the Gold Rush in 1898, and became incorporated on June 28, 1900-making it the first city to incorporate in Alaska.

The City of Skagway is geographically the largest city in Alaska with 455 square land miles, but its population, which once hit a high of nearly 10,000 people, was estimated at about 870 people in 2004. Skagway has experienced an approximately 2.0% annual growth rate in the 1990s and early-2000s, attributed to its thriving tourism industry. Skagway is a popular port destination for cruise ships from May to September each year.

Skagway may be a relatively small city, but security is still a priority for its government agencies. That's why it chose a Zebra P420i to create identification badges on site and on demand.

"We use the printer to create identification cards for police officers, fire department personnel and other city employees," reports Sheryl Gladden, Police Clerk for the Skagway Police Department. "All the people who drive tour vehicles that are not considered by state standards to be commercial vehicles need city-issued chauffer permits, as well."

The photo identification cards are also used to identify Skagway's senior citizens, who do not have to pay sales tax on food items at the local grocery store.

Because the city sits on the Canadian border, the cards provide a convenient second form of identification for Skagway officials who need to cross the border on official business. They are also used by Skagway police officers who need to fly with firearms on commercial airlines for business purposes. The Transportation Security Agency provides the police department with a special logo that is placed on the back of the identification cards to denote that the person holding the card is legally authorized to travel with a firearm. The logos can only be used for certain police personnel.

Bicycle Rodeo Puts Printer to Test
One of the Skagway Police Department's favorite community events is the Annual Bicycle Rodeo, which Gladden describes as basically a fun bicycle safety class.

"All the kids bring their bikes to the rodeo and have them checked by bicycle mechanics," Gladden explains. "The bikes have lights and reflectors installed if they don't already have them, and are checked thoroughly for any other issues such as loose chains and proper fit. Then they are repaired if needed."

The children are then issued a helmet and proceed to an obstacle course that is similar to a driver education course, but set up for bicycles. Two bicycle patrol officers teach the children about safety issues and test them out on the course. Once they have finished, they are issued a bicycle license.

"Afterwards, they go out in groups with an adult leading on the real road and practice the things they learned on the course," Gladden explains. "Then they all meet at a designated spot for a barbecue, and after that to the local ice cream shop. If they show their bicycle license at the ice cream shop, they get a free ice cream cone."

The bicycle rodeo doesn't just put children to the test, it runs the Zebra P420i through its paces as well. "The Bicycle Rodeo cards all have to be made in a short amount of time," Gladden reports. "We hook the printer up to a laptop and one person takes pictures while I work the Alpha Card program and print the cards. The kids love watching the whole process."

The Skagway Police Department issued about 55 cards in less than two hours at its most recent Bicycle Rodeo. Even parents wanted their own bicycle licenses, Gladden says.

Overall, Gladden estimates that she and two other staff members print about 150 cards each year with the Zebra P420i printer, which simplifies card printing via automatic driver configuration, intelligent color optimization and a special RFID system for ribbon image counter and ribbon low notification.

Gladden performed the initial setup herself, and is the primary person who uses the printer. The printer has been extremely reliable, and is "definitely" easy to use, she emphasizes.

"It's definitely helped our operations and the city's," Gladden reports, "and it's also helped the grocery store be able to quickly identify senior citizens."

The Skagway Police Department is considering adding encoded bar code functionality to the cards in the future, so that fire department personnel can be checked in and out when they respond to an incident. The Skagway Fire Department is largely a volunteer operation, making it more difficult to track personnel.