Local Police Crackdown on Speeders

“Uh, 71-08, silver-colored, small SUV just passing Farm and Home”, Acting Tullytown Borough Police Chief Sgt. Dan Doyle said into his radio, his unmarked car nestled into a nearby parking lot monitoring vehicles going through the active St. Michael the Archangel school zone on Levittown Parkway.

Seconds after the transmission, a black and white Tullytown patrol car pulls over the SUV for exceeding the 15 MPH school zone speed limit by more than 10 MPH.

The increased speed patrol, Doyle said, came after crossing guards and parents asked police to step up enforcement.

“We don’t do this to make money,” he said. “The borough only gets $12.50 for every $25 fine.”

During the hour of enforcement, timed with when the school zone lights were active, roughly a dozen cars were ticketed for speeding. Doyle said some of the offending cars were traveling at more than 50 MPH.

Before police can even start their “traffic detail,” they need to check to be sure all the school zone signs are properly displayed and that the warning lights are all functioning properly.

“Our first job is to make sure everything is setup correctly,” Doyle said.

Police in Tullytown often hold details along Falls-Tullytown Road, Route 13 and Levittown Parkway.

Using a state certified stopwatch and two fixed objects, in this case they were construction barrels, Doyle timed the cars and the stopwatch calculated the speed. When an offending car was caught, the acting chief radioed it’s description and speed to waiting marked units.

With the certified stopwatch and fixed timing objects, Doyle said, “it’s hard to beat the ticket.”

The system may seem simple but it proves effective.

The system of timing has several restrictions. If an officer has an obstructed view of the speeding vehicle anytime when it passes the two fixed measuring points, police can not pull it over, Doyle said.

“If I don’t think it’s accurate, I just throw it out and restart the clock on the next one,” he said as he drove his police vehicle through the borough streets.

In Pennsylvania, no municipal or city police departments can use speed radar guns, which is opposite of every other state in the nation.

Despite proposed bills in the state house over the past few years that would allow local police to use radar guns, no bill has been signed by the governor.

Critics of local police using radar guns believe approval of the devices will lead to agency abuse, leading to towns reaping revenue from speeders.

Whatever happens in Harrisburg, Doyle said Tullytown police will continue to crack down on speeders in the 2-square-mile borough.