Cop detectors

**appleman** · 03-10-2008, 08:38 PM

Can a cop detect you have a radar detector? I mean does his radar detects my detector if he passes by me?
I stopped at a red light and my RD went crazy. I saw the cop from across the street waiting for the green light to go left and as he was passing by he was looking towards my car not to where he was going.
Am I paranoid? :shock:

**djrams80** · 03-10-2008, 08:42 PM

Some police cars are equipped with RDDs(radar detector detectors), but they are not very common in areas where RDs are legal.

**kgalvin** · 03-10-2008, 09:05 PM

yeah, it does suck for ppl that live in states were they are not legal. Tho, The STI and the new escort 9500ci are undetectable from rdd's.

**JDS** · 03-11-2008, 12:18 AM

Yes, you're paranoid.

He may very well have picked up your detector on his Spectre unit, but that has nothing to do with you being paranoid

**Esoterica** · 03-11-2008, 01:22 AM

Maybe he was just gay and checking you out? Seems to be a lot more common these days.

I love letting them see I have a detector mounted prominently on my windshield.

**tjbender** · 03-11-2008, 02:17 AM

For a second, I thought this was going to be a thread asking why a radar detector didn't detect the police cruiser that was parked and unmanned in front of the local donut shop. I'm glad I was wrong.

To answer the OP's question, yes, there are "radar detector detectors" out there like Spectre and VG/2. Most states have at least VG/2 technology in their highway patrol cruisers to catch truckers with detectors (RDs are illegal in commercial vehicles), but the only places you need to worry about a cop with a RDD are Virginia, D.C., and The People's Republic of Canadia. They're legal for personal use in the 49 other states.

Now, there are wrinkles to those legalities. In several states (California and Minnesota pop to mind immediately), any device designed to jam laser is illegal. California law states that it is illegal to have any object obstructing your view out the windshield, so if your detector is suction-cupped on and the cop is a douchebag, they can get you for that. Make sure you know the laws around where you live, but you're basically safe everywhere except the places I mentioned.

**appleman** · 03-11-2008, 06:20 AM

Originally Posted by Esoterica

Maybe he was just gay and checking you out? Seems to be a lot more common these days.

Thats funny.

**appleman** · 03-11-2008, 06:21 AM

Originally Posted by bcorby

For a second, I thought this was going to be a thread asking why a radar detector didn't detect the police cruiser that was parked and unmanned in front of the local donut shop. I'm glad I was wrong.

To answer the OP's question, yes, there are "radar detector detectors" out there like Spectre and VG/2. Most states have at least VG/2 technology in their highway patrol cruisers to catch truckers with detectors (RDs are illegal in commercial vehicles), but the only places you need to worry about a cop with a RDD are Virginia, D.C., and The People's Republic of Canadia. They're legal for personal use in the 49 other states.

Now, there are wrinkles to those legalities. In several states (California and Minnesota pop to mind immediately), any device designed to jam laser is illegal. California law states that it is illegal to have any object obstructing your view out the windshield, so if your detector is suction-cupped on and the cop is a douchebag, they can get you for that. Make sure you know the laws around where you live, but you're basically safe everywhere except the places I mentioned.

Thanks for the straight forward answer.

**Arvetus** · 03-11-2008, 07:26 AM

Originally Posted by bcorby

(RDs are illegal in commercial vehicles)

This is often something I've wondered, but if they're illegal for commercial vehicles, would they be illegal in a "company car?" Just something I've wondered...
I suppose the only way they could know it's a company car though is if they ran the tags...

**erickonphoenix** · 03-11-2008, 08:03 AM

In Texas RDs are illegal in commercial trucks so a lot of DPS cruisers have Spectre IIIs for this reason. It has been posted on this forum that DPS has admitted to using they're Spectre IIIs to "time" an instant on strike against a vehicle.

Just because you're in a detector friendly state doesn't mean detector detectors aren't being used against you.