Half a Loaf...
First, Mark Brown writes about the LIDAR controversy - something our readers have been complaining about for months now and something we covered earlier this past summer:
It was with some fanfare that the Chicago Police Department announced three years ago that all city police districts were being supplied with high-tech LIDAR speed detectors to help crack down on speeders on neighborhood streets.
What nobody has bothered to make public, however, is that for at least the past year, speeding tickets produced by Chicago police officers using LIDAR have been routinely dismissed in Cook County Traffic Court for any defendant bothering to show up to contest the case.
Chicago Police will stick to their radar guns — by churning out speeding tickets generated by LIDAR detectors purchased to slow down neighborhood speeding — despite widespread dismissals in Traffic Court, Superintendent Jody Weis said Friday.
“It’s a proven technology that law enforcement agencies throughout the United States use. …It’s the best thing on the market right now… and we’re gonna continue to use it,” Weis said.
Labels: department issues
posted by SCC at 12:03 AM
27 Comments:
The training at the Academy for LIDAR was a joke. The instructor for the Lidar class never wrote a speeding ticket with Lidar prior to teaching it. True fact.
Not a big deal? How about using a firearms instructor to teach recruits about Glocks. It would be a disaster. So is the Lidar training.
Even if the city wins Frye, the Hall Rat attorneys who stalk the traffic court hallways know the six hour training class isn't worth beans. They will embarrass the testifying officers and once again the Lidars will come under scrutiny.
I love LIDAR............. at traffic court I was told that the ASA office is afraid to have a fry hearing in cook county because the judges are too liberal and they might loose the case. If the fry hearing is lost we can say by by to LIDAR forever. By the way, LIDAR has never lost a fry hearing anywhere in the U.S.A. Cook county seems to be the only place that this could happen.... So much for the ability of our ASA's. Ha Ha. Anita Alverez was the answer our problems. This is a slam dunk and we have been in limbo for over a year? I have never written a LIAR ticket for less than 15 over the limit!! VOTE EVERY ONE OF THEM OUT OF OFFICE!
how about a contact card, some parkers and a mover are now the qualifications for above average police officer?
Nothing about fighting crime and dealing with the public at all!
REVENUE AND B.S. STATISTICS ARE SUPPOSED TO STOP VIOLENT CRIME????
I smell a class action lawsuit coming. Citizens who get tickets from a LIDAR officer make up a class that is being prosecuted with known faulty technology. Faulty to the courts at any rate. The city has known about this for a long time and has not taken the legal steps to prove their technology in court but the City is still ordering their officers to write tickets using this technology.
The legal fees and compensatory and punitive settlements are there for the taking. Plenty of hungry lawyers around. Just wait for the big lawsuit.
Older officers will remember when someone could get arrested on a traffic warrant or a warrant for parking tickets. The City got sued over that one. After that no one could see a lockup for an offense that did not include jail time in it's original penalty.
The LIDAR lawsuit is probably being drafted at this moment.
Keep on writing those LIDAR tickets and maybe enjoy seeing your name on the defendant line on that lawsuit.
The City That Works!
they already did a frye hearing on the lidar issue and it was found to be admissable in court.
The reason the City of Chicago has yet to have a frye hearing is because their was to be one in Skokie. If the Frye hearing was succesful their , that would make the lidar admissable in any Cook County court.
The Frye hearing is still scheduled in Skokie, but awaiting date in court.
I for one am Not going to write anymore tickets with LIDAR...You have a Better chance of winning a drug pinch...I was told recently at traffic court by Corp Council that even if the Defendant was driving 100 mph they would still Dismiss the Case!
Anonymous said...
The training at the Academy for LIDAR was a joke. The instructor for the Lidar class never wrote a speeding ticket with Lidar prior to teaching it. True fact.
Not a big deal? How about using a firearms instructor to teach recruits about Glocks. It would be a disaster. So is the Lidar training.
Even if the city wins Frye, the Hall Rat attorneys who stalk the traffic court hallways know the six hour training class isn't worth beans. They will embarrass the testifying officers and once again the Lidars will come under scrutiny.
11/07/2009 12:18:00 AM
Lidar training was designed for two days but some one decided to make it one day. Lidar class does not meet the manufacturer's specifications. Not the federal government guidelines. But the academy knows best. Training is quick and fast to show the numbers of officers trained. All smoke and mirrors.
This rests entirely on the incompetence of the Cook County State's Attorney. The inability and unwillingness of this office to serve the public is legendary. The installation of so many devices has not increased our credibility (ie. GPS, camera, dashboard etc). Of course, a department run on clout does not increase our gene pool in the future either.
11/07/2009 12:18:00 AM
"How about using a firearms instructor to teach recruits about Glocks. It would be a disaster."
-----------------------------------
?
this is old news didnt this pop up in the news about 6-10 months ago. who cares. if you want to write speeding tickets go work in the burbs.
Anonymous said...
The training at the Academy for LIDAR was a joke. The instructor for the Lidar class never wrote a speeding ticket with Lidar prior to teaching it. True fact.
Not a big deal? How about using a firearms instructor to teach recruits about Glocks. It would be a disaster. So is the Lidar training.
Even if the city wins Frye, the Hall Rat attorneys who stalk the traffic court hallways know the six hour training class isn't worth beans. They will embarrass the testifying officers and once again the Lidars will come under scrutiny.
11/07/2009 12:18:00 AM
...............
So what. The instructors learned how it worked, were trained, and practiced with it. Does that mean all the range instructors had to have shot someone before teaching the recruits?
You should also read your second sentence. It make no sense. If your going to rip on someone you should at least make an attempt to do it sober.
As for your third sentence part of the defense attorneys job is to try and discredit you on the stand. It is part of the game. If you can't handle it perhaps you should find a new line of work.
My sons have a real badass Hot Wheels radar detector. Why don't we use that. My eight year old will teach the class for a happy meal.
I've been retired from the Illinois State Police (District Chicago) for a few years now, and before I retired, I had a LIDAR gun assigned to me for a few years. As a platoon supervisor, it was routine to have requests from officers who wanted to utilize this technology to sign out the LIDAR and go out and write tickets. Problem was, the LIDAR training offered by ISP was not mandatory. We were told to come to headquarters and sign for the device and use it as an additional tool available to the guys and gals on our platoons. Some of the guys on my platoon liked it for it's accuracy in target selection, but I found it a pain in the ass to actually look through the reticle because you had to have your window down or be standing outside the car since the car windows would reduce the effective range by at least half. If memory serves me correctly, we got convictions from LIDAR tickets in the 5th District suburban Cook County court. One other thing that we found particularly useful about the LIDAR guns was the ability to use the device in it's range finder mode. We would be able to take measurements at fatal crashes without having to shut down the interstate while we rolled out our 100' steel tape measures. You could simply have the LIDAR at one point and an officer holding a clip board or something at the other end and shoot the laser and get a correct measurement.
they already did a frye hearing on the lidar issue and it was found to be admissable in court.
11/07/2009 06:10:00 AM
Please tell me this is true!!! Can anyone verify?? Date of hearing?? Anything?? Can we actually win something in our favor in Cook County??
I have one of those Lake Shore Drive traffic guys in my courtroom.
I also watch in dismay, that about 50+ people or so are routinely let go for the past year in every court call. The Traffic Court Judges look and treat us like we are assholes for doing this to the fine Liberal citizens out here!
I asked him why does he continue this nonsense and tying up all us Officers for needless garbage we have to sit through that just get tossed out of court by the liberal piece of shit traffic court judges.
His response was that he didn't to lose his spot and go back to dealing with "pookie" on the Westside!
I just shook my head at the 5 year wonder!
" Anonymous said...
The training at the Academy for LIDAR was a joke. The instructor for the Lidar class never wrote a speeding ticket with Lidar prior to teaching it. True fact.
Not a big deal? How about using a firearms instructor to teach recruits about Glocks. It would be a disaster. So is the Lidar training.
Even if the city wins Frye, the Hall Rat attorneys who stalk the traffic court hallways know the six hour training class isn't worth beans. They will embarrass the testifying officers and once again the Lidars will come under scrutiny.
11/07/2009 12:18:00 AM"
--------------------------------
I think you wanted to say:
" Anonymous said...
The training at the Academy for LIDAR was a joke. The instructor for the Lidar class never wrote a speeding ticket with Lidar prior to teaching it. True fact.
Not a big deal? How about using a firearms instructor who NEVER FIRED A GLOCK to teach recruits about Glocks. It would be a disaster. So is the Lidar training.
Even if the city wins Frye, the Hall Rat attorneys who stalk the traffic court hallways know the six hour training class isn't worth beans. They will embarrass the testifying officers and once again the Lidars will come under scrutiny.
11/07/2009 12:18:00 AM
By the way, hats off to the supervisors in Traffic Enforcement, who, without any training in the use of LIDAR, managed to pull the rug over the commander's eyes in dumping the responsibility of Lidar training to the academy. You lazy idiots!
The LIDARS were purchased under a Grant for DUI enforcement. They were not purchased for speeders per say. It was because speeding is a good indicator of DUI. Anyone on this job should know the Dept isn't proactive about anything, it's only when fed money or grants come around that anything is purchased i.e. TARA, AVON respirators, SUVs, M-4s, federal money coming up next for training is gonna be to certify POs with foriegn language skills. Executive order made it mandatory that LE agencies provide such, so Dept is getting money to test foriegn language speakers and make a database. But no money is allocated to maintaining those skills or teaching languages.
What the hell is LIDAR my 1998 Ford Crown vic with no computer and 190,000 miles doesn't have one.
Why would anyone want to make any type of revenue for the city ?
"widespread dismissals in Traffic Court, Superintendent Jody Weis said Friday."
Has this moron even been in a Crook County Court...EVERTHING IS DISMISSED.
"Oh you ran someone down with your car, $135 court fee, 1 year supervison, don't do it again"
I'm moving to Wisconsin.
"Only a lawyer would know what a Frye hearing was..."
Or anyone who read the linked article since it says so right there at least once.
Listen up unpublished idiot - it's 2009, society is very accepting of your lifestyle. Go to him and tell him about it. Seriously. This misdirected man-crush is getting out of hand. He isn't here and we have no way of contacting him, so you might as well go talk to him in person. It's OK to admit it. Go. Be with him. And stop bugging us - you're getting boring.
Lidar training was designed for two days but some one decided to make it one day. Lidar class does not meet the manufacturer's specifications. Not the federal government guidelines. But the academy knows best. Training is quick and fast to show the numbers of officers trained. All smoke and mirrors.
11/07/2009 08:47:00 AM
Are you serious? The class was way too long when it was 2 days. What do you think your learning about anyway? You get a working knowledge of the LIDAR gun and a handout to remind you prior to court. The LIDAR gun is much more reliable do to its targeting of specific cars. It is easy to use. I bet you never used it. 1 ticket to get you your monthly court date huh? Stop talking about stupid S**t and tell the truth.
Its all about the court fees, thats all they care about. $$$$$$$$$$$$
this is old news didnt this pop up in the news about 6-10 months ago. who cares. if you want to write speeding tickets go work in the burbs.
11/07/2009 10:50:00 AM
And if you want a one rock hype special work for CPD. Moron.You probably can't write a ticket to save your life.
By the way, hats off to the supervisors in Traffic Enforcement, who, without any training in the use of LIDAR, managed to pull the rug over the commander's eyes in dumping the responsibility of Lidar training to the academy. You lazy idiots!
11/07/2009 04:45:00 PM
Traffic commander has dumped every responsibility to the academy. They receive the grant funds but never spend any funds on training. Instead they expect the academy to train everyone. Traffic works with numbers of citations, nothing more.
cook county district 3 had a LIDAR case that went to a frye hearing and it was found in favor of LIDAR being acceptable. It was either early 2009 or late 2008.
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