CHARLESTON USES RADAR TRAILER TO CURB SPEEDERS

CHARLESTON -- Police Chief Richard Couch is battling speeding in his town by trying to write as few tickets as possible.

He has brought in a heavyweight law enforcer from the Missouri Highway Patrol, but in two weeks, he probably will have to give it back.

"These radar trailers are used heavily right when schools open," said Lt. Dave Hart of the Highway Patrol, which loans the trailers to law enforcement agencies that request them. "Much of the time they have to make reservations in advance."

Using a Doppler radar system, the mobile radar trailers record a driver's speed and flash it back to them on a display screen. The Highway Patrol troop for Southeast Missouri has had its two trailers for two years, and they are seldom not in use, Hart said.

The radar trailers benefit both police and drivers, Hart said, because drivers slow down and police don't have to write a ticket.

"They see their speed and almost immediately think there's going to be an enforcement action," he said.

Cape Girardeau police also share their radar trailer with other departments, said Sgt. Carl Kinnison. It was received through a grant from the Department of Public Safety about five years ago.

The trailer is placed in neighborhoods as residents request and also at high-accident areas, said Police Cpl. Kevin Eudy.

"We try not to leave it in one location for more than 24 to 48 hours," Eudy said.

Besides telling drivers their speed, the radar trailers count the number of cars that pass and record days and times of speeding.

The Highway Patrol's radar trailers are most often placed around schools or hospitals, Hart said.

Many drivers in Charleston had gotten into the habit of exceeding the 20 mph speed limit in school zones during the summer, Couch said. He is using the radar trailer to remind them that summer's over.

"Often, you get in the habit of driving and not checking your speed," he said. "Different people are made aware of this by different things. The radar trailer works for some; tickets work for others."

So far, the Highway Patrol's radar trailers have only been requested by city police departments, Hart said, adding that it's probably better that way.

A radar trailer was run over on purpose last year after it was placed in a sparsely populated area near Kansas City.

The Highway Patrol recommends the radar trailers be set up in areas that are well-lighted with a steady flow of people and traffic.

After Charleston police used the radar trailer for the first time on Friday, most drivers' reactions were positive, Couch said.

"There was one man who thanked us," he said. "It showed him that his speedometer was off."