Neat CHP Clip from "Speeders"

[mac88chp]

This clip is from the new Court TV show "Speeders" and shows a Chippie nailing a late model Mustang right in the very area where my SSP used to patrol!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6cnQXUXV34

No radar when my SSP was out there in the days of the double-nickel, just good old fashioned pacing was used.

That ticket ain't gonna be cheap Lady!

[xxtrpr]

That is a 6 cylinder mustang, one exhaust pipe and standard seats.

[ImEvil1]

Originally Posted by mac88chp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6cnQXUXV34

No radar when my SSP was out there in the days of the double-nickel, just good old fashioned pacing was used.

Cool clip.

Alot of people say that CHP never used radar, but it appears that they did (although in a limited capacity). Here's an excerpt of an article from the Sacramento Bee (Sacto, CA) from 1987.

Published on July 5, 1987, Page A1,
Carolyn Hall's thoughts were miles away from her drive along Eastern Avenue. She didn't know how fast she was going, and she had forgotten about the California Highway Patrol officers who often park in the area with their radar aimed at speeders. She snapped back to reality when she saw the two motorcycle officers waving her to pull over. The radar had clocked her car at 49 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone.

[mac88chp]

Originally Posted by ImEvil1

Cool clip.

Alot of people say that CHP never used radar, but it appears that they did (although in a limited capacity). Here's an excerpt of an article from the Sacramento Bee (Sacto, CA) from 1987.

Right you are. Radar units were purchased by certain counties for CHP use on problematic secondary roads and streets in those jurisdictions. It was not authorized or used on the interstates or state highways, like CA99 shown in the clip, until later in the '90s when the CHP finally received the authorization to widely deploy their own units. Most of that radar is now being supplanted by Lidar...nasty stuff!

[ImEvil1]

Originally Posted by mac88chp

Right you are. Radar units were purchased by certain counties for CHP use on problematic secondary roads and streets in those jurisdictions. It was not authorized or used on the interstates or state highways, like CA99 shown in the clip, until later in the '90s when the CHP finally received the authorization to widely deploy their own units. Most of that radar is now being supplanted by Lidar...nasty stuff!

How was it "not authorized"? Is that a specific CHP policy you are referencing?

[mac88chp]

Originally Posted by ImEvil1

How was it "not authorized"? Is that a specific CHP policy you are referencing?

For radar use, they needed approval from the state legislature and it was withheld from them for many, many years. Not sure of the reason why it took so long but there has always been a healthy (and mutual) mistrust between the two parties going all the way back to the agency's inception in the '20s.

[ImEvil1]

Originally Posted by mac88chp

For radar use, they needed approval from the state legislature and it was withheld from them for many, many years. Not sure of the reason why it took so long but there has always been a healthy (and mutual) mistrust between the two parties going all the way back to the agency's inception in the '20s.

I found a bill put forth in the '60s that gave CHP the legislative approval, and everything I've read said that the reason every car didn't have it was because CHP never received specific radar funding (until recently). I've also seen where municipalities provided them with equipment (like FHP with the counties), but I've never heard or seen that they were not "authorized" to use the donated equipment on highways or expressways.

[mac88chp]

Right, it's the old political ploy of giving approval but not funding. Out here, everybody knew this all along and for decades just always referred to it as a denial...same end result.