Criminal citations are used by police in some jurisdictions in order to charge a person with a crime without the need of making a physical arrest. They are generally used for non-violent, fineable offences and those that carry little incarceration time. Convictions for criminal citations may show as such on a criminal record.
Requirements for issuance of a criminal citation vary by jurisdiction but generally the suspect must have no open warrants and a valid identification such as a driver's license, military ID or passport.
References
Criminal citation Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA