Editorial: Local police should be allowed to use radar

State Trooper David C. Beohm demonstrates a hand-held radar gun. Pennsylvania is the only state that doesn't allow municipal police access to radar for speed enforcement. A bill would change that but there are hurdles ahead.

The state House Transportation Committee unanimously passed a bill that would allow municipal police to use radar to fine motorists for speeding.

The bill has moved to the House for a vote. A date has not yet been set. Beyond that, it would have to be considered in the Senate, then it would go to the governor's desk.

Pennsylvania is the only state that does not allow municipal police to use radar.

Instead, municipal police are required to use other devices, which are more difficult to set up and not as effective.

State police support granting municipal police departments the ability to use radar for speed enforcement, according to Ryan Tarkowski, department spokesman.

"Radar is an effective tool for officers to use in their efforts to keep local roads safe, and we believe expanded use of radar would have a positive impact on traffic safety throughout Pennsylvania," Tarkowski said.

Sgt. David M. Bentz, Exeter Township traffic safety unit, said municipal police have always advocated to use radar.

"If we had it, we would start using it tomorrow," he said. "I would not be using it on Route 422. We are more concerned about the safety in the developments. We want to slow down the traffic in the developments."

Bentz said that speed devices that are put on roads to detect speeders are not as simple to operate as the radar devices mounted on a vehicle.

Nuts and bolts

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Greg Rothman, a Cumberland County Republican, said the bill would make roads safer and would not be used as a revenue generator for municipalities.

The bill would require municipalities to pass an ordinance authorizing the use of radar and install signs at the municipality's lines that radar enforcement might be in effect.

The municipality's revenue share of the fines would not exceed 10%.

The remainder of the revenues would go to the state's Motor License Fund, which funds road and bridge improvements and state police operations.

Under the proposed bill, only written warnings would be issued during the first 90 days of enforcement.

The bill got a unanimous vote in the transportation committee, but there is opposition from the National Motorists Association, which opposes radar.

Needed or not?

Tom McCarey, spokesman for the driver advocacy group, said radar should be banned in Pennsylvania, not extended to municipal police.

"There is no epidemic crisis of speeding, only an epidemic crisis of highway engineering malpractice allowing well meaning, but misinformed politicians to seek more and more money from safe drivers," McCarey said.

Tara DeStefano, community traffic project coordinator for the Pottsville-based Highway Safety Network, said radar is long overdue for municipal police.

"Speed crashes are the Number One killer," DeStefano said. "The preliminary result of the first year of the pandemic is that we will likely see speed crashes are up, even though driving is down.

According to PennDOT's 2019 crash data report, speed was a factor in 264 of the 1,059 fatal crashes reported in Pennsylvania.

DeStefano said that radar is much more efficient than the devices being used by municipal police, such as VASCAR.

VASCAR is a unit used by municipal police that involves a stopwatch and a computer to calculate the time and speed between two points.

@HollyJHerman on Twitter

Holly Herman is a Reading Eagle reporter covering general assignment and transportation.

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