Why do some cities use radar/laser, others dont?

I have been trying really hard lately to figure out why some city Police and Sheriff run radar, while others don't. In Santa Barbara, the city squad cars have no speed measuring devices at all, but the city motorbikes occasionally hide and use either radar or laser. Very rarely do they do speed enforcement. I have personally only seen one officer shooting traffic once in three years.

So, why do some Police Departments and Sheriffs Offices use radar and laser and others don't run radar or laser at all? Who decides if a department using speed enforcement (radar-laser)? And who controls how heavily enforced certain cities are?

I also wonder where all the CHP officers are because they're never in Santa Barbara...never. Any explanations to above questions?

Thanks in advanced.

Money. Lidar guns are expensive. Older moving radar units are dirt cheap & still work fine. Why should some poorer PD departments upgrade to a more expensive stationary only lidar unit if the older moving radars still work?

Santa Barbara city police don't even run radar. They just got brand new LED lights so they must have some money.

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Originally Posted by tiger17

Santa Barbara city police don't even run radar. They just got brand new LED lights so they must have some money.

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LEDs can be much cheaper than strobes when you consider the LEDs do not need a power pack like the strobes do.

LED lights are actually cheap anymore if you consider the fact that they completely eliminate the need for service on the bulbs.

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Originally Posted by tiger17

I have been trying really hard lately to figure out why some city Police and Sheriff run radar, while others don't.

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Geez, of all the things to worry about, I can't fathom this taking much time out of MY day ........ :)

As stated, money is probably the big issue. And some police departments have dedicated traffic enforcement units, (motors-speed task force-etc), which frees up the patrol officer to answer calls for service. Not every officer is expected to sit and write tickets during slack time.

Believe it or not, some cops could care less about traffic violators. They are busy doing other things or enjoying a little peace between calls. I think it's hilarious how some folks slam on their brakes at the sight of every patrol car, even when it is obvious that the officer is occupied with something else and not available to reach out and pinch them!!

So we have concluded that money is why some Departments use radar and others don't?

The sheriff in my area doesn't even do speed control. In my entire life, I have never once seen them pull someone over for speeding, use radar or laser, etc. I dont think they even own radar or laser equipment (its sure not in their car).

I live in a huge county which spans a very great area. They police are much more concerned about drugs, car thefts, murder, and other serious crime. I don't think they have the time or manpower to worry about speeders.

My city PD has radar units in almost every patrol car, but most of the officers I've talked to say they write very few speeding tickets. There is one person on every shift (not counting the motor unit) that is supposed to handle speeding and other traffic complaints when not running other calls. Then that officer gets one of two Laser Atlanta units (evidently hand-me-downs by their condition) to use on whatever road they've been getting complaints about. There's little regular speed patrol from what I understand.

I know of a few PDs that have no to very little radar in their patrol vehicles in my general area. Contrast that to the county PD who has a radar in about every vehicle (including some with BEE-3 w/ POP) but again, the officers I have spoken to say they write few speeding tickets with radar.

It just isn't a priority for some. My SO has two or three radars that are probably 15 years old. I don't know where they are.

No one really minds if you pull people over, but it isn't a big issue for us. Besides, there are a hundred other traffic laws that you can enforce without a radar.