found this article on while looking police radar freq's.

[Audi Quattro]

Speed technology develops faster than drivers
By Dustin Lemmon, Dispatch/Argus Staff writer
Dustin Lemmon / staff
Illinois State Trooper Ed Ryan uses a laser gun to monitor the speeds of cars on Illinois 5. The laser gun has surpassed the radar gun in accuracy, allowing officers to use a pinpoint laser beam to track vehicle speeds.
Developments in laser technology have been helping the Illinois State Police catch up to speeding motorists, who find it harder to dodge radar guns and other speed detectors of the 1990s.

Law enforcement officers across the nation now are using a large arsenal of speed-tracking equipment, such as radar guns, mobile radar tracking equipment and laser rifles.

The growth of speed-tracking equipment can be traced back to World War II, when the military first introduced radar tracking technology. Law enforcement officers were using radar technology to ticket speeding motorists before radar guns were even invented.

Ed Ryan, an Illinois State trooper based out of the District 7 in East Moline, said one of the first radars police used was a needle graph, which printed out readings of motorists' speeds.

The trooper noted the technology has come a long way since then.

``You could only use it on a nice clear day,'' he said.

Radar was ``later developed into a gun,'' the trooper said. Now that device is becoming obsolete for ISP, which has mobile radar detectors. ``You can actually be driving, and from a moving position track other cars,'' he explained.

Police now have a new weapon to monitor speeding traffic -- a laser ``rifle,'' complete with a scope to pick out the speeders.

The new technology, known as ladar -- an acronym for light detection and ranging -- uses a smaller infrared ray instead of a radar beam, to bounce off cars and track speeds.

Trooper Ryan said ladar can be more accurate than radar equipment because it has a narrower beam.

``You can point it 1,000 feet down the road,'' he said. ``The laser will be about 4 feet wide, while the radar will cover both lanes of the road.''

Ladar allows troopers to monitor a motorist's speed in higher-density traffic.

``With the scope you can aim right for the grill area,'' Trooper Ryan said. ``It can pick out your car in a pack of ten.''

Although ladar is more accurate than mobile radar, it is still in the infant stages. Like its predecessor, the radar gun, it is an immobile system and must be used while the officer is standing still.

Trooper Ryan said he thinks technology will develop ladar to the point that it too can be used in a moving squad car, but until it does radar will be the weapon of choice for officers battling speeders.

More officers have to be trained to make sure they pick up an accurate reading, he said.

``You can't just send somebody out there'' who hasn't had any training ``and say `Go knock 'em dead and write some tickets,'|'' Trooper Ryan said. ISP rules require that ``troopers have to have a refresher course every three years,'' he said.


Copyright 1999, Moline Dispatch Publishing Co.

[g_jammer]

I find it funny when police laser is referred to as "LADAR" then say it is an acronym for Light Detection And Ranging. (LIDAR)

Where does that first "A" in LADAR come into play in that acronym. LoL

[GTO_04]

Funny how we never heard about radar's shortcomings until laser came out. Wide beam angle, not being able to pick out the speeding vehicle, and accuracy, were apparently not concerns before.

And what about modern radar units claiming to have the "fastest target" feature? The reporter should have asked about that, but reporters are usually clueless and they think that people who commute by car are the biggest threat to civilization!

GTO_04

[RacerX]

Trooper Ryan said he thinks technology will develop ladar to the point that it too can be used in a moving squad car, but until it does radar will be the weapon of choice for officers battling speeders.

that would be a neat trick. unless they have some type of stabilzer system along with a tracking system, that won't happen anytime soon, since they need to pinpoint specific vehicles.
it's almost impossible to hold a gun steady while in a moving vehicle, let alone track and target vehicles from any distance.
they'd need a display screen to pick out vehicles, etc...

but, as long as i have my jammers, more power to them.

[g_jammer]

....it's almost impossible to hold a gun steady while in a moving vehicle, let alone track and target vehicles from any distance...

Especially when they are trying to drive and drink their coffee, which they can easily do with radar which is why it'll be their weapon of choice for a while.

[RacerX]

yeah, there is no way they'll add a second officer to each car to "operate and control" a moving lidar unit.
if they set it to some kind of "wide beam" it'll be no better than radar, plus it will still have inaccuracies. the gun will be bouncing around so either they reduce the amount of panning errors, causing wrong readings or they have some ubber stabilization system that keeps it rock soild, which would be too cost prohibitive.

yeah and with units like the dual stalker radar they can track and lock on to vehicles coming and going, plus the Kustom unit that can lock and track a vehicle as it approaches, then continue to track it as it passes with the rear antenna.

At this point i kinda see things for lidar going to smaller units like the pro-lite, for motor units and other departments who want to supplement their radar with stationary lidar, kinda like Ohio who run both.

[Audi Quattro]

will have a wider beam inorder to detect a starbucks and Krispy Kremes faster. LoL sorry couldnt resist.

[MerkXRTurbo]

"You can point it 1,000 feet down the road,'' he said. ``The laser will be about 4 feet wide, while the radar will cover both lanes of the road.''

Too many innacuracies to count. :roll:

[kpatz]

So now we need to upgrade our detectors and jammers to handle this newfangled "LADAR"?

They accidentally combined LIDAR and RADAR to come up with the "new" acronym.

But then, how often are news articles related to technology accurate?