Bethel Park supports senate and house radar bills
Bethel Park Council has joined other municipalities across the state in supporting state house and senate bills that would allow local police officers to use radar to enforce speeding.
Council voted May 12 in favor of the resolution, put forth by the Pennsylvania State Mayors’ Association Radar Coalition, in support of state house bill 1272 and state senate bill 1340. The bills would include a change that would allow all police officers, not only members of the state police, to use the speed enforcing tool.
Pennsylvania is the only state that does not allow the use of radar by local law enforcement.
Heading up the initiative in support of the proposed legislation is Whitehall Mayor and President of the Pennsylvania Mayors’ Association James Nowalk.
“It’s worst than an unfunded mandate,” said Nowalk. “We have the resources and we’re not allowed to use them. It handcuffs the police.”
According to the Radar Coalition, radar is already being used to enforce speed limits in over two thirds of the municipalities in Pennsylvania because those municipalities are patrolled by state police, not local law enforcement officers.
Nowalk quoted National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics which list Pennsylvania as the state with the third highest number of speed-related fatalities in the nation.
Mt. Lebanon Police Chief Coleman McDonough said radar is an important safety tool. “It’s user friendly, very efficient and can be used on any terrain. It’s very simple and portable, just point and shoot,” he said.
Giving local officers the ability to enforce speed with radar could save lives, the chief said.
McDonough debunked the notion that municipal police would use the radar to write more speeding tickets.
“It’s not a very effective way to raise revenue,” he said, explaining that the cost a municipality pays for a police officer to go to court and defend a speeding charge is higher than money earned from the speeding tickets.
“The numbers just don’t add up,” he said.
Not all local municipal officials are optimistic about the chances for the state bills to pass.
“It has come up a couple of times, but doesn’t seem to go anywhere,” said Peters Township Manager Michael Silvestri. “It definitely has support, but always seems to fall short.”
However, Bethel Park Mayor Jack Allen said it is worthwhile for the municipalities to support the legislation.
“It’s an opportunity to use (radar) if we want to,” Allen said.
Nowalk said he believes sponsors of the bills have a very good chance of getting the legislation, which he said has bipartisan support, passed this time.