Police Gain Edge in War on Radar Detectors

Police gain edge in war on radar detectors: Can see them 1 km away

This article appeared in the June 2005 issue of the National Post and Radar Roy was interviewed for this story.

It should be noted that since this story was published, Beltronics has developed the first radar detector that can beat the Spectre radar detector, the Beltronics STi

Inveterate speed freaks should beware of a stealthy new threat to their claim over the open road: a virtually unbeatable species of "radar detector detector" is quickly being adopted by police forces across Canada to nab motorists who have an illegal radar detector hidden in their vehicle.

The "Spectre II", by Stealth Micro Systems Pty. Ltd., an Australian company, is selling briskly across the country. The Ontario Provincial Police now has about 60 units on patrol, neighbouring counterpart Surete du Quebec has a similar number, as do other forces in provinces where radar detectors are illegal to own.

With older equipment, the OPP estimated about 70% of radar detectors slipped past their net. The technically superior Spectre II has improved their capture rate "substantially," according to Traffic Sergeant John McNall , speed management co- ordinator .

"The only reason people have a [radar] detector is they want to speed," said Sgt. McNall , who notes the OPP began ordering Spectres in 2002. "What's happening now is they are being lulled into a false sense of security [whereas] we have an exceptional device."

Tests by the OPP have ferreted out radar detectors where previous police equipment failed. The Uniden LRD-967 is detectable at 986 metres , ditto the LRD-7055C radar detector at less than 560 metres , the Cobra 9560 at 1,400 metres , the Rocky Mountain Radar DLS310 at 1,650 metres , and the PNI Traveller II at 800 metres , he said.

"Currently, nothing on the market can defeat Spectre II," said "Radar" Roy Reyer , a retired police officer and certified radar instructor who sells radar products from his popular Arizona-based Web site, radarbusters.com.

Manufacturers, including Escort Inc. and Beltronics USA , are working on prototype devices to defeat Spectre . One by Attowave , which Mr. Reyer was invited to test two weeks ago in El Paso, during an annual competition between radar detector and "radar detector detector " manufacturers, had some success, but won't be available for a while, he said.

Motorists from the four Western provinces shouldn't feel entirely safe, though they can legally own radar detectors. In Ontario , Quebec and the Maritimes, where ownership is banned, police in recent years have begun meting out strict punishment to tourists, on the assumption they should have known to disconnect their devices, said the OPP's Sgt. McNall .

The RCMP doesn't own any Spectres , and since it polices all but the largest cities in the East, it's safe to say those speeders won't be facing Spectre II.

Along with better means of seeking out radar detectors, police have added to the arsenal they use to catch speeding cars. "POP" radar, developed some four years ago by MPH Industries, sends a burst at 65 milliseconds that can defeat more than 85% of commercially available radar detectors. It's gaining in popularity amongst state forces in Nevada , New York and Florida , though not yet in Canada .

And portable guns that point beams of light at speed violators, instead of radar, are becoming routine across North America . Whereas radar waves disperse over a wide swathe of road, Light Distance And Ranging guns (LIDAR) shoots a 56-centimetre-diameter beam directly at individual car licence plates or grilles, picking off speeders like a sniper. The gun performs a finer calculation of speed by measuring the time light takes to travel.

Mr. Reyer's site receives five orders a day from hopeful Canadians ordering mostly higher-end units, such as Escort's SR7 and the Beltronics RX75, or the newest products: jammers , such as Blinder's M-20, that stay dormant until they detect a laser beam, then send out their own flood of light to confuse the police device.

To increase the odds of beating light, there is "Veil," a coating available since December that borrows the principles of stealth used in the U.S. fighter jet program. Painted on to headlamps and licence plates, it masks those key targeting areas by as much as 50%, giving a car going about 120 kilometres roughly seven additional seconds of warning.

Speeders should ask which technology was used to catch them. Since radar and even POP radar are comparatively inexact, motorists hauled into court have successfully argued they weren't speeding.