Gwinnett Police Lose Radar Certification As Result Of Government Disagreement

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GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. – Police in Gwinnett County won’t be using laser guns to catch speeders on the roads—at least for now. The change came January 1 because of a disagreement among several government agencies.

Officers say they’re making adjustments to the way they do their jobs. Radar and lasers are now no longer an option for police in Gwinnett County, Norcross, Lilburn, Lawrenceville and other cities within the county.

Certification for the devices was pulled by the state after county and city leaders failed to agree on a mandated, once-every-10-years agreement on service.

Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Edwin Ritter told FOX 5 radars and lasers are just another tool for officers. He said they’re working around it.

Some motorists told FOX 5 they think some people will try to take advantage of the change, and that could make things more dangerous on county roads.

Cpl. Ritter says one option officers may look to for catching drivers who exceed the speed limit is to use unmarked cars to case vehicles on the road. That way, police could track speeds of drivers around them, and they could do the same by using a helicopter from above.

According to Cpl. Ritter, if you see a police car doing the speed limit on the roads around you, you should do the same.

There’s no word on how long the ban on radars and lasers will last. The case is currently in the court system and until that’s resolved, police will have to use other methods.

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ilegworldchamp

over 2 years ago

8998 Comments

Ge , why bother having a "CERTIFIED SPEEDOMETER" if your not using it ?
kadan

over 2 years ago

626 Comments

Of all the idiotic things.... let's make it harder for the officers to do their job, they have such an easy time now...NOT this is stupid someone with a brain needs to step in and do something about this, obviously the state doesn't give a damn, Jonas I couldn't have said it better myself!
grant319

over 2 years ago

1208 Comments

When they see the accident rate go up due to speeding problems somebody will have to do something. Yeah a helicopter and "chase" car will be nice, but as we all know too well they are never around when you really need them and when the county gets the operating bill they will stop that too.
GrayPanther

over 2 years ago

964 Comments

Remind me not to drive through Gwinnett county.
Jonas

over 2 years ago

38366 Comments

I came to the conclusion today that the only difference between criminals and most politicians is their elected status.
Anonymous

over 2 years ago

Man that is not cool at all. It is rather unfortunate that the media got a hold of this because I feel it will tell people to go ahead and speed you may not get caught. I agree with UncleDennis, as using a stopwatch is affective.
Archangel72

over 2 years ago

534 Comments

Insanity I tell you!
HEYSARGE

over 2 years ago

16800 Comments

This should of never happened!!
Ynkefan1

over 2 years ago

2516 Comments

they left out the fact that GSP is permitted to continue using laser/radar w/in the confines of the county. also depts like suwanee are using the speed trailer and posted radar signs for speed control. stupid politicians at work once again
uncledennis1

over 2 years ago

22256 Comments

I know I am showing my age with this comment. Stop watches will also work.
lkdavis71

over 2 years ago

988 Comments

Politicians. Can't see what is going on with their heads "in a dark place".
OlSkoolBlu89

over 2 years ago

2484 Comments

It's been like that for year's here. The only LE agency using radar/laser is PSP, municipal police officer's are not authorized to use laser/radar but they use VASCAR and it seems to be as effective but not as mobile.
fletc

over 2 years ago

182 Comments

Guys, I've got to say that in those areas most of the enforcement seems to lean more toward revenue generation rather than actual safety concern and their absence doesn't bother me at all. It also seems that Cpl Ritter isn't up on current GA law as we can't use unmarked units for traffic enforcement any more. Now before all my brothers jump on me for not caring about the lasers and radars I have to say that I have never worked straight traffic and only on rare occasions did I make a traffic stop where my suspicions were traffic related only. When I was on the road I was K9 So my view point may be different than many here in that respect.
Irishcop1961

over 2 years ago

36888 Comments

Politics at its best. Wait until they see how much money they will be losing on speeding tickets and they will change there tune.
Anonymous

over 2 years ago

Remind me not to drive through there anytime soon...