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July 10, 2004

Jon Cooper To Harass Rapid Drivers

See also NYS Speeding Ticket fixers
Jon Cooper Looks To Harass Rapid Drivers
SUFFOLK COUNTY

Legislator pushes for county-wide ban of radar and laser detectors, jamming devices

By Brian Ferry
bferry@longislandernews.com

If you like to drive fast, and you rely on a radar detector or jamming device to
keep you from writing checks for speeding tickets each month, then Jon Cooper
will be happy to serve you.

Cooper (D�Lloyd Harbor), the Suffolk County Legislator who brought to Suffolk
County a ban on the highly controversial weight-loss drug ephedra and a law
requiring the use of a hands-free device to operate a cellular phone while driving
an automobile, is looking to make the streets safer for drivers across the county.

At a press conference held on June 30 at the Suffolk County Police Departments
Second Precinct, located on Park Avenue in Huntington, Cooper announced that
he has introduced legislation that would prohibit the purchase, sale, and use of
radar detectors and laser detectors in all vehicles in Suffolk County. New York
State currently prohibits the use of radar detectors in commercial vehicles over
10,000 pounds and any vehicles over 18,000 pounds. Cooper wishes to extend
this ban to all motor vehicles, including passenger cars. Cooper�s resolution
would also ban radar and laser jamming devices, which work to �jam� radar and
laser guns that police officers use to detect the speed of a vehicle.

Robert Moore, Chief of Department for the Suffolk County Police, explained that
police officers may not even realize that there is an automobile utilizing these
devices.

It depends on the sophistication of the device. The detector tells you that there
is a unit out there and the police officer would not know that the person has the
device out there, Moore said, adding that with a jammer, the officer would know
that his or her gun is being interfered with, but would not know which vehicle is
doing so.

Such a ban on radar and laser detectors and jammers would be the first of its
type in the nation. The use of these devices by motorists to ignore speed limits
endangers other drivers and hinders the ability of police to enforce traffic laws
and maintain safe driving conditions.

�The only reason for a motorist to use a radar detector or jammer is to break the
law, plain and simple, Cooper said at the press conference. People who
recklessly use these devices put thousands of innocent lives at risk every day
and this has to stop.

Cooper and Moore both explained in different instances that these devices are
readily available at many locations, including retail stores such as Best Buy and
on the Internet. Moore said that just last week, the department was able to find
850 sites that sell Mobile Infrared Transmitters, or MIRTs. They are the devices
that emergency vehicles use to signal the change in a red traffic light that allows
them to pass quickly through traffic.

And they're brand new, Moore said. 'Access to these things is not all that hard.'

Violations of this law would be punishable by a fine of up to $250 per violation.

'Suffolk County has the dubious distinction of having the highest auto fatality rate
in New York State', said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer.

'Any efforts by people to thwart the enforcement of traffic regulations that would
endanger the citizens of Suffolk County is something we cannot tolerate.'

A public hearing on Cooper�s resolution will take place on August 10 at the next
meeting of the County Legislature in Hauppauge.

The bottom line, as always, is [the question] 'Why are the police doing this � [or]
'Why is government doing it ?' Moore said. 'Are we doing it because it is fun to
harass the public' No. We're doing it because the actions we're trying to prevent
could end people's lives.'

Posted by dc at July 10, 2004 04:14 PM

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