The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Internal memos reveal that state police commanders worried that thousands of irate motorists would challenge speeding tickets if they found out that the department was considering a recall of hundreds of radar guns, a newspaper reported.
The Philadelphia Daily News said the documents, released as part of a civil lawsuit, include memos in which state police officials said they were aware of complaints about the radar guns giving false readings, but thought a recall for repairs would harm the agency’s reputation.
In one 2003 memo, Maj. Kathryn Doutt, then commander of the state police patrol bureau, wrote that any corrective action needed to be accomplished with discretion.
“Obviously, the department cannot risk sending a message that these radar devices are inaccurate, while recalling them for modifications,” she wrote.
Sgt. Martin Henry, the state police supervisor of enforcement programs, said in a 2004 memo that if the radar problems became public, it could result in speeding convictions being overturned.
In another memo written in 1999, Lt. Gerald Roberts suggested that the radar guns should be fixed one at a time during routine service.
“If the radar sets were all recalled at once under the announcement of a problem, the inappropriate media attention would cause undue concern to the public and could potentially undermine our speed enforcement efforts for the past year,” he said.
At the time, several police troopers had reported that speed guns made by Decatur Genesis were occasionally flashing phantom speed readings when the guns were not in use and pointed at stationary objects.
Investigators theorized that the false readings were due to electronic interference from certain models of police cruisers, and Decatur Genesis offered to provide 600 free, portable battery packs then thought to have the potential to eliminate the interference.
The state police rejected the offer.
Agency spokesman Jack Lewis said authorities were confident the guns weren’t giving inaccurate readings when pointed at moving cars. The battery packs, he said, would be just one more unnecessary piece of equipment for officers to carry.
“Our feeling was that we didn’t need to have them. We didn’t feel it was necessary in any way,” he said.
Lewis acknowledged that commanders were concerned that the public might react badly to a recall, but said it wasn’t the deciding factor in the decision not to accept the battery packs.
Lewis also insisted troopers aren’t writing tickets based on faulty equipment.
“All of the state police radar equipment is, and has been, working properly,” he said.