Volunteer radar gunslingers nail speeders

[guiseppewv]

Speeders beware. Your neighbors might have you on their radar. That's the message police departments across the country are trying to send by loaning residents radar guns and turning them into neighborhood speed watchers.
Volunteers can't ticket the drivers they catch breaking the speed limit, but their reports can result in warning letters being sent by police, depending on how fast the drivers were going.

Police say the program is worth it if it can make even a few motorists obey speed limits. "It's one more element of enforcing speed," says Lt. Daniel Furseth of the DeForest Police Department in Wisconsin.

For the past year, the village has allowed residents to borrow a battery-operated radar gun for a week or two, sit on their front lawns and record the speeds of passing motorists.

Typically, a warning letter is sent when speeds are 13 mph over the limit, but it depends on the residential area, Furseth says.

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The police department has sent out a couple dozen warning letters, he says. "One parent called and was glad we sent a letter," Furseth says. "But it's not always the kids (who are speeding) — it's the soccer moms, too."

Elsewhere:

•Residents in Loveland, Ohio, are invited to sign up in teams of two or three to use the Stalker II, a handheld, battery-operated radar gun.

•In the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Ill., residents affiliated with homeowners associations use the radar guns. "Some people seemed surprised. Some took notice and slowed down," says Bob Fischer, director of the Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation. "Others were angry that we were interfering with their inherent right to get to the train station — or back home — as quickly as possible."

•In Shawnee, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City, police allow residents to use radar guns on residential streets that are posted 25 mph or less, police Sgt. Doug Orbin says. The volunteer must stay in his or her vehicle while using the radar gun, he says.

•This week, the police department in The Dalles, Ore., started taking names of interested citizens who want to be neighborhood speed watchers.



I think I would laugh if I saw my neighbors doing this. What do you all think?

LINK (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-22-radar_N.htm)

[Napoleon54]

I'd laugh my ass off if I got a warning letter. Hell, if I knew they were doing it I'd speed past them intentionally.

[LPMiller]

i think finally, the police have found a way to give busybody's something to do.

[Jenny]

i think finally, the police have found a way to give busybody's something to do.

:hihi: :laugh:

Personally, I think it's cool. they didn't give em the right to hold or arrest people, so whatever. :shrug:

[bachviet]

:hihi: :laugh:

Personally, I think it's cool. they didn't give em the right to hold or arrest people, so whatever. :shrug:
You could try citizen arrest but you have to watch your back. :P

[guiseppewv]

You could try citizen arrest but you have to watch your back. :P

You were probably only joking but....in most states it has to be a felony for a citizen to make an arrest.


All states other than North Carolina permit citizen arrests if a felony crime is witnessed by the citizen carrying out the arrest, or when a citizen is asked to help apprehend a suspect by the police. The application of state laws varies widely with respect to misdemeanor crimes, breaches of the peace, and felonies not witnessed by the arresting party. Note particularly that American citizens do not have the authorities or the legal protections of the police, and are strictly liable before both the civil law and criminal law for any violation of the rights of another.[7]

North Carolina General Statutes do not provide for citizen arrest, but instead provide for detention by private persons.[8] These statutes apply both to civilians and to police officers outside their jurisdiction. Citizens and police may detain any person who they have probable cause to believe committed in their presence a felony, breach of the peace, physical injury to another person, or theft or destruction of property. The key distinction between an arrest and a detainment is that the detainee may not be transported without their consent.

Washington State does not have a specific statute granting citizen's arrest powers. However there has been several state court decisions rendered that affirm and uphold common law citizen's arrest power for (a) felonies committed in the presence of the person making the arrest or (b) misdemeanors committed in the presence of the person making the arrest provided the misdemeanor also constituted a breach of the peace.

[guiseppewv]

I'd laugh my ass off if I got a warning letter. Hell, if I knew they were doing it I'd speed past them intentionally.

:stupid: I thought the same thing.

[Markel]

You could try citizen arrest but you have to watch your back. :P
Hmmm...Mom with radar gun clocks speeder...jumps in minivan and tears out (about 300 yards behind already)...rolls minivan trying to corner at 50...sues local police department for giving her the radar gun.

[uncledaddy]

Though I try not to speed because I have a commercial license, (fines automatically double), I would probably laugh as well, however I don't let the kids out alone by the street because of @%# hole speeders.

[thresher]

I have a radar gun. A good one. I radar people all the time but it's strictly hobby. Believe it or not but there are a LOT of us around (and we fly under the radar - hahaha). Most of us are either ex-cops or cop wannabes (security, wife said no (that's me), or too old/fat/crazy types that are sincerely interested in traffic. I also investigate traffic accidents as part of the same hobby. If I have a particularly good wreck (by "good" I mean one that involves speed not cell phones, mom/dad distractions etc.)then I will radar that area for a while graphing the distinct demographics of whose speeding, when, and where they live. Like I said - we've been around a long time. These folks their interested in giving units to: busybodies. :) The training it takes to get a good reading is really pretty longterm. I had over 100 hours before I could really get the feel of one car over another in traffic. http://www.sunagaimpulse.com/Syozai/SpeedGun/Kustomimage/Hr12web.jpg
a Japanese site googled image of my gun. weird. :)

[gugnheim]

That's my neighborhood (Loveland). We're glad to have it. My street is almost a perfect 1/4 mile strip and gets treated as such. There are no sidewalks and the kids walking to school have gotten good at dodging idiot motorists. People don't park on the street due to many crashes from out of control jackasses.

As well, being an ex-LEO, it concerns me, not for the Darwin award wannabes, but for the seniors, the kids and anyone wanting a peaceful transit of our neighborhoods. I've let the trees grow on either side of the drive and put in a pull in space for the local LEOs. It helps, but doesn't stop it.

[gwilks98]

woah woah woah, what kind of speeding are we talking here? 30 in a 25 sidestreet? 50 in a 40 with nothing around?

I personally feel like speed limits are over cautious (and probably revenue-minded) and I don't care for people who feel driving is as cut an dry as a posted sign.

[gugnheim]

We're talking a 25mph street that has on one end a grade school down the street and the other it "tees" into a residential zone. Several times in the past few years, cars have not made the stop at the intersection and the house there has had a car in the living room. Speeds like that. Like I said, enough that people have ceased parking on the street for fear of it being hit by someone losing control. Combine all that with the children walking to/from school, the many elderly residents, and the population explosion in the area and it makes for bad news.I have personally clocked 60 plus near the end of it. Oh and that's if the deer aren't crossing as well. The city has even tried speed bumps at several points and even they don't work forever, the snow plows ended up ripping them out of the street at first snow...

woah woah woah, what kind of speeding are we talking here? 30 in a 25 sidestreet? 50 in a 40 with nothing around?

[Houdini]

woah woah woah, what kind of speeding are we talking here? 30 in a 25 sidestreet? 50 in a 40 with nothing around?

I personally feel like speed limits are over cautious (and probably revenue-minded) and I don't care for people who feel driving is as cut an dry as a posted sign.

That's kinda what I was thinking. No speeding in residential areas, school zones, construction, etc., of course, but often speed limits are very much overly cautious. Huge stretches of freeway 4-5 lanes each direction at 50 or whatever - speed trap districts - are usually unreasonable.

Then again, there are some idiot drivers who aren't safe driving at 30, let alone 70+. Or people who want to drive cars designed for 70-80 max going 110.