I'd move back to Texas.......
William Rogers.......

Man, you guys hate us law enforcement types. Oh well, the radar detector/laser detector folks must love you.

Every one of the detectors out there aren't worth a hoot in h$%&. I teach radar and laser operation. We teach the newbies that you don't point laser or radar at a vehicle until you can visually identify that it is exceeding the posted limit by an unsafe margin. The unsafe margin as determined by a number of factors, including speed surveys, road conditions and so forth.

Once an officer sees that the vehicle is traveleing at a certain speed, he points the device and quickly picks up the displayed number. You're now in the citation zone.

What a detector does do is allows you pick up ambient or reflected signals. So, what that means is that any time you fall into the radar cone, or, catch a reflected signal, your detector goes off.

The laser is much more precise, typically subtending a 36" box at 1000 yards. By the time your laser detector went off, you're still in the ticket zone.

Well, I've got to get back to my donuts and coffee.


83 300SD 172K

If speed enforcement wasn't operated like a money machine, maybe people would feel different. It's my belief that the local governments WANT people to speed. It is an easy source of revenue, and the cities are addicted to it like a druggie is to the crack pipe. That's why many speed limits are set artificially low. If by some freak of nature, every single driver immediately started obeying the speed laws religiously, the speeds would eventually start to ratchet down again untill people begin ignoring the limits again, as the municipalities suffered from their withdrawl of ticket revenue.

Currently, I just sit back and obey the laws. There are enough people in a permanent hurry in the metromess to feed the moffia's extortion racket.

gawlpd

I'm sure you do teach the "law enforcement" officials that are involved in speed enforcement that they should first visually estimate the speed of a target vehicle before using radar or laser to get an actual speed - unfortunately I don't think too many graduates of your class are following your instructions very well. I've seen hundreds of speed traps where the vehicle running radar was hidden behind an obstruction where estimation was not possible until after the vehicle speed was obtained.

As far as instant on RADAR goes eveytime you pull the trigger on your gun you are broadcasting your presence to everybody with a detector within a half mile or so. Unless traffic is very light I get plenty of warning for most instant on encounters.

You are correct about LASER but I have actually beaten a LASER trap. When you set-up a LASER trap make sure there are NO exits between the person using the laser and the violator. You can hit us from very long range with a LASER gun but the extended range is not useful if there is an exit between you and the assumed violator. BTW how do you estimate the speed of a vehicle that is a half mile away? The terrain was flat so I don't think he was using markers on the road.

Happy Hunting..

Tim

I'm with TimFreeh on this one. Every time they pull the trigger the detector, if in range should pick it up. In traffic when Officer Bonehead is clocking every car that passes I'll have a warning and back off a bit. The only time I am dead is if I am travelling solo with light or no traffic.
gawlbpd,
Whadaya know about the new laser jammers? From what I understand they broadcast a laser signal when a laser is detected to confuse your laser gun for a few seconds while alerting the driver to the laser threat. They then shut down so the cop has no idea the device was active. It would be awfully suspicious if the cop couldn't get a lock and the car remained "invisible"....
You want a rant? Well here it is: The reason I hate cops. Started in HS. Had a hotrod, citations for everything under the sun, not speeding, BS since I was a kid. The town cops used to give us all kinds of grief and we gave it back in kind. Then theres college. We had to pay the cops to attend our fraternity parties per university policy to keep everything "safe". What the university didn't know is the cops demanded/extorted triple that amount in cash from us at each event or we would have trouble. Real nice. Then theres all the state and local cops at the gym I used to go to. Huge steroid using community that never got touched as one cop was the dealer! Visiting my mom in CT I get pulled by the local PD who is screaming at me-"Do you know how fast you are going??" Its one of the idiots that used to hassle me in HS. I answer "Yes Officer XXXX, I was going 35mph which is 5mph over the limit. I know because I used to live on this road, I remember your name since you used to bust my stones in HS. I see you are still up to the same old tricks like pulling over out-of-state vehicles to hassle them" He did an about face and left. How about when I used to rent a ski house up north every winter. The next condo over was rented by RI and MA cops. They showed up every Friday night, drunk as skunks, having driven 4 hrs to NH, consuming alcohol all the way, and then bragging once they arrived about how fast they drive since they can't get caught. I have met very few cops who I liked or had any respect for. I could go on with incidents like these if you want. I feel sorry for anyone who has chosen this profession and is a honest cop. RT

__________________
When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

Easy guys!!!, Take it easy!!!

Wow, you're right, every cop is crooked, every cop has it out for African-Americans, every cop hates kids.

Of course, there's no such thing as a thieving lawyer, a corrupt politician, or a Mercedes mechanic that pads his pocket by charging for unnecessary repairs. Welcome to the world of human behavior.

Cops are no different. We are drawn from the human race. One unique characteristic about law enforcement is that we are under constant scrutiny, as we should be. We have to be held to a higher standard of behavior than any other profession, again, as we should be.

Cops screw things up all the time, but if an agency is truly in step with the public, it cleans up it's own house, meaning that if a cop is not doing the job right, the agency takes appropriate corrective action.

At my agency, we videotape every single car stop, and tape record every single citizen contact. You know why? Because it makes the officers behave professionally, and it catches the citizens in lies, which is a constant issue we have to deal with.

All in all, this is a difficult profession to be in at this time, or any time in the past 20 years. I enjoy helping the public, I enjoy getting to see and do what most folks never get to, and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I long ago adotped the stance that I really have little authority, the public actually does, which is the way it should be.

Now, back to the laser/radar issue.

Current radar gun is "on" all the time. An officer must mask or block the output by resting it against a door or similar flat surface. When one makes note of a vehicle traveling outside the limit, then one brings up the radar and detects the vehicle. Mounted radar cannot be used in this manner. One pulls the trigger on the hand-held gun to lock in the speed of the violator.

On the dollar figures generated by ticket revenue: Out here in The People's Republic of California, in my county anyway, it's something like 17% of the citation's fine goes back to the issuing agency. It's not a money-maker. What is a money-maker, and you citizens should be going crazy over, is the parking citations.

Okay, that having been said. Let's drive the speed limit and not get any citations!!!!

83 300SD 172K

Actual call from me to the Connecticut State Police:

CSP:CSP Tolland how can I help you?

ME:I need an officer at West Street mall in Ellington, someone just smashed into my car.

CSP:Are their any injuries?

ME: No, but I'd like a police report to send to my insurance company, I'm sure it's going to be a big repair bill.

CSP:So you weren't on a public road?

ME: No. I was in a parking lot.

CSP:We don't respond to those calls any more. Just ask the other driver for his information and send it to your agent.

ME:But what if he says I was at fault?

CSP:Unless their are injuries we don't respond to those calls any more sir.

CLICK.

After leaving the scene of the accident I found out that 1/8 of a mile down the road there was a member of the CSP performing a radar trap! He couldn't leave the potentially lucrative act of aiming a radar gun to fill out an A.R.

Now, WHY DO I HATE COPS?

__________________
83 M-B 300D- daily driver
83 240D gray market
2002 VW Jetta TDI- beater

Diesel 924,

You hate cops because of that incident? Come on.

I'll tell you why we don't respond to "Private Property" accidents. It's because it is a civil issue, and your city fathers, who represent you, have made that decision, not the police. We typically do not hold any authority or jurisdiction over private property because we have no say in the private road construction, parking lot operation or construction, and so forth.

There is a misconception that a police report somehow increases the level of blame to be emplaced on someone involved in an accident. I'm sorry to tell you, that's the lawyers and insurance companies that are trying to make you believe it. It's these folks that want to assign blame in order to raise your insurance rates or inflate the injuries/damages in order to gaff you or your insurance company.

(Ever been in an accident and the insurance company says to you, "Hey get us a copy of the accident report," then you foolishly do so? We get dozens of request a day from insurance companies, asking for copies of reports. In other words, make them get the copy for you, they know how to do it.)

If the public wants to we law enforcement members to spend public dollars on civil issues, then so be it. Until then, we're stuck with what we have.

For folks that have never been involved in law enforcement, I suggest they take a "Ride-along" with their local agency, or, if you have one, take the multi-week "Citizen's Academy." It can be an eye-opener.

83 300SD 172K

"Okay, that having been said. Let's drive the speed limit and not get any citations!!!!"

gawlbpd,
You have missed the point entirely. The speed limits here are set too low ON PURPOSE or it is a hold-over from many, many years ago. There are a few roads here that actually warrant 25mph limits but not many. Add to that fact that the actual traffic speeds average between 35-45mph on these roads, regardless of the presence of the cops. I find it hard to believe that everyone else on the road is a speeder, recklessly endangering the lives of others. Senior citizens don't even drive as slow as the posted limits. I also take issue with the fact that the cops TOLERATE the speeding until they FEEL LIKE HANDING OUT A TICKET. Sometimes they choose to enforce the law, sometimes not. Its a BS system and everyone knows it. It doesn't change for whatever reason but I would say it most certainly has to do with revenue. RT

__________________
When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

I hope I didn't miss anything. Out here in California, speed limits are not allowed to be arbitrary. They are based on speed surveys, road conditions (curves, width), and previous incidents.

It's correct that we don't issue citations unless we feel like it, but there is reasoning behind the decision to issue a citation.

If I were to issue citations to everyone that violated some traffic law, I would be busy all day writing citations. I know the traffic laws very well, and most people do not. The vast majority of folks that get traffic citations get them for impatience. Impatience and inattention is what causes about 70% of traffic collisions.

For speed limits that are set too low, in your opinion, then you need to challenge those in court, or have them examined by the Department of Justice. Speed lmits that are set ridiculously low may subject the governing authority to a racketeering charge in Federal Court. It's called a "Speed Trap."

Don't get mad, get even. Force the local authority to change the limits via action, not dissatisfaction. I suspect you live back East, where law enforcement is being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

One final thing.

I have been involved in the investigation, in one way or another, in over 100 fatal traffic collisions in the past 19 years. One consistent factor, besides alcohol or drugs, has been the speeds involved.

When I say "speeds involved," I don't just mean your speed, I mean the other guys speed also. The closing speed of two vehicles traveling in opposite directions is the combination of the two speeds.

If memory serves me correctly, I believe that at 55 mph, in a head-on collision, one has a 50% survival rate. For every 10 mph increase, there is a corresponding increase in the possibility of fatality. Thus, I drive the speed limit to minimize the closing speed. Utilizing the 55 mph example, I don't want the closing speed to be 110 mph against my Mercedes. I don't think it was designed to withstand it.

I might not be too popular for my comments and I am not a police officer but you guys whine too much and place blame where it ought not to be placed.

Want to avoid getting speeding tickets? Stop speeding!

As for speed limits that are too low, start complaining to your local government. Who here thinks that the police set the speed limits? So is it their fault to do a thankless job like saving idiots from killing themselves or others? If you don't like the speed limits get involved with the government bodies responsible. Most of the folks whining have probably never even tried to be involved in government. You live in a democracy, if you don't like what you see, get your whinny ass of the couch and do something about it! Hell you might even get the local police on your side!!!

As for calling the police names like "pig" etc, give me a break, and grow up. Have you people no frigging respect? no shame? Sure there are the odd "bad" police officer out there but I like to think that the vast majority are decent hard working individuals. Furthermore, they put their butt on the line every day for ungrateful people like you! How many of your co-workers have died doing their job in the past year?

If you want to return this thread to discussing the best radar detector, go ahead, but please just show some respect and drop the ridiculous schoolyard name calling.

__________________
Greg
'73 416 UNIMOG DoKa
'85 300GD G Wagen

Greg,
I'll show respect when I think its due. Until then I'll call 'em whatever I please. You ain't in my shoes, you ain't had my experiences and seen what I've seen so don't judge my opinion. Ungrateful? Maybe, they chose the career not me. While I agree the topic has gotten sidetracked and I have added to it you certainly are not helping things here either. Got an opinion about detectors? Great, love to hear it. Otherwise come on down out to the white tower and join the rest of us. Wait until you get bagged randomly I'll sure you'll just be swooning for 'em. RT

__________________
When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

Thoughts on traffic citations, based on a small amount of experience, and a lot of anecdotes.

1. Highway patrol generally professional, "fair takedowns"

2. City cops, especially -small city- cops more likely to be:
a. total *ricks
b. speed trapping
c. letting off their friends and relatives
i. I live in a small town

3. The more densely populated states/regions, especially in the East tend to have a higher *prick quotient.

4. So watch your step in small towns, especially back East

5. Thoughts?

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jeremy wood
'88 260E ~200,700 miles
- All stock, except for Blaupunkt "Miami Beach"

jw260E has it spot-on. Around here the standards for state troopers seem to be a lot higher than the locals.

He is also on target about small town local cops using RADAR as a revenue stream for the town.

There are two sides to every story. There are some bad cops out there but there are also lots of idiot citizens. I would not want the job of being a cop - I salute those who do the job professionally.