Another bill planned to allow local police to use radar

Pennsylvania's municipal police hope 42 is a lucky number.

State police gained legislative authority to use radar to enforce speed limits in 1961. Since then, all other states have allowed municipal police forces to use the device, said Amy K. Corl, Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police executive director.

"But, in Harrisburg, lawmakers have rejected the idea for the past 42 years," she said.

Some delegates and senators fear municipalities will be tempted to use radar speeding tickets to make money. Valley officers reply, "no, it's about safer roads and trust, period."

In lieu of radar, local police use systems that time vehicles as they pass two lines painted on the road. A car traveling at the speed limit would take a certain amount of time to pass the second line. VASCAR and Accutrac assume that if the vehicle arrives there more quickly, then it was exceeding the speed limit.

"We're trusted to carry guns. Why shouldn't we be able to use a tool to help stop speeding?" asked Harrison Police Chief Mike Klein. "I have never understood. They make it seem like a quality issue between municipal police using radar and state police using radar."

Those positions are surfacing again as yet another radar bill is being prepared. Tom Hickey, a spokesman for Gov. Ed Rendell, said Friday the governor is "considering the idea, but no decision has been made."

"Let's give the police the tool that they need," said state Rep. Joseph Petrarca, D-Vandergrift. Petrarca has been a member of the House Judiciary Committee, where the majority of members have opposed the legislation because they fear some departments would set up speed traps and support their towns with money earned from fines.

New committee assignments will be made Jan. 27.

"There have to be ways to work this out. I've heard some say 'let's send the money to the state and then back to the municipalities.' I've also heard a proposal to limit it to departments with 10 or more officers," Petrarca said.

Sen. Jane Clare Orie, R-McCandless, wants local police to use radar in parks and school zones "to show its effectiveness." Municipal roads and streets would be added later, she said. "Certified police have this authority in every other state. Why not here?"

Her compromise measure would allow police to use the newer laser speed check technology, too.

Sen. Sean Logan, D-Monroeville, whose district includes the northern half of Westmoreland County and parts of eastern Allegheny County, wants to allow local police to use radar.

"It's past time to do that. We can use this to reduce the number of fatalities," he said.

Rep. Jeff Coleman, R-Ford City, endorses local radar use and is encouraging officers to call Harrisburg.

"This would improve accuracy, not be a revenue enhancer," Coleman said.

State Rep. John Pallone, D-Arnold, is considering the idea, but he has questions about whether local police can afford for officers to be trained to use the radar and have the equipment periodically checked for accuracy. State police do both, he said.

"When a trooper testifies in court, he or she can say the equipment was certified accurate within the past 'X' days," he said. "Certainly this is a tool to be considered but are there other, more pressing police issues in the Alle-Kiski Valley?"

Reps. Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont, and Guy Travaglio, D-Butler, did not return calls about the bill.

Local police just want better tools for doing their jobs.

It's hard to use some alternative anti-speeding tools because there isn't enough space in small towns, according to Vandergrift Police Chief Joseph Caporali .

"Accutrac needs 100 feet. With radar, you eliminate that need."

Leechburg Police Officer Mike Diebold wants radar, too.

"There are many places in town where there is no place to put in the lines or hide the car for VASCAR or Accutrac to stop speeders. This would give us more options."

On the other hand, Apollo Chief Robin Davis said she wouldn't use radar even if her department gained the right to do so. Why• It's a matter of money.

"The bill says it has to be full-time officers. I'm the only full-time officer in Apollo. The others are part-time. Why spend the thousands of dollars needed to buy the unit when I would be the only one to use it and I have so many other police and administrative duties?" she asked.

Many officers are skeptical that a bill will pass even with compromises.

"I've been a police officer for 23 years and this seems to come up every year. I will believe it when it happens," said Indiana Township Police Chief Robert Wilson. "I don't have a lot of faith in our Legislature. I don't know how we are different than the 49 other states that allow local departments to use radar."

He said some people mistakenly think municipalities get most of the money from traffic tickets.

"They don't," he said. "For example, a stop sign violation is $103 and only $12.50 goes to municipalities. If someone fights it, we have to send an officer who is paid $40 for the two hours it would take. It doesn't take a mathematician to figure this out," Wilson said.

Parks Police Chief Doug Cuica said he can "understand how some might think local radar could be misused" and he has a compromise.

Departments should abide by the rules that apply for them to use speed timing devices such as VASCAR or Accutrac, he said.

Consider, for example, posting speed limit signs within so many feet of where the radar would be used, he said.

"The idea is to slow people down, not fill the coffers of the municipality," Cuica said.