Lodi Police Department sees promise in new speed radar signs

LODI — The Lodi Police Department has been using the village's new radar signs to detect speeders, and Police Chief Keith Keough said this will be a benefit to the village. The signs, on Redfield and Elyria streets, detect cars that are speeding and will flash brightly to tell drivers to slow down. The signs also record the number of cars that pass through and at which time more speeding is taking place, but they do not take pictures of vehicles or license plates. Keough said the signs were installed last week and have been operating for over five days. "It took us a little while, but we got them up and they are working very nicely," he said. "We ended up paying $3,700 for two of them. They are probably just shy of 2 years old, and they look brand new." Keough can collect the data the signs record from a cloud service. He said that it also shows the number of cars that are traveling below the speed limit. "I can see communities putting them up," he said. "It's more of a deterrent than anything else. The cloud service really gives a pretty good indication of time frames during the day when we are getting a majority of the speeders. When I see a trend developing, I can assign an officer to run radar at that location." Keough hopes that drivers in and around the village will understand that they are not just setting up the signs and letting speeders go; officers and the signs are being used in conjunction with each other. He said there might be days when an officer is not on that street, but that the next day they will be, allowing the department to be more fluid in how it operates. Keough said the signs can be shifted throughout the village, but the current locations were a good starting point for collecting data. "The public is educated enough that the department is not getting many spikes of speeders on Redfield Street," he said. "Elyria Street is a little bit different because it's state Route 83 and turns into Elyria Street as you are coming into the village. We are getting a lot of indicators saying that during certain times of the day, we are getting people that are 15 or 20 over the speed limit, which is concerning to me." The police department is working with the village's electric and street departments to place sleeves throughout the village so the signs can be moved easily; Keough said future locations include Bank and Wooster streets. The signs are battery-powered but also use solar panels on the sign tops. Keough said officers and residents have noticed that drivers have slowed down on the roads the signs are on. "It's basically to let you know that you need to slow down when you come through this area," he said. "It makes you think. I think it was a good investment. It gives people something to think about when they are driving in our area. They really need to watch their speed, because we are monitoring that." Contact reporter Patrick Rhonemus at (330) 721–4050 or prhonemus@medina-gazette.com.