Police should have radar

                  "I can have a machine gun but I can't have a radar gun?"
                  ---------Chief James Boddington, Southern Regional Police

                  Excellent question, chief.
                  It goes right to the heart of the matter when it comes to use of radarfor speed enforcement by municipal police officers in Pennsylvania.
                 We trust our borough, township and city police officers with enforcing laws and investigating all manner of crimes ----- from harassment to homicide.
                 We trust them with the power to detain and arrest citizens.
                 We put them behind the wheels of potentially deadly vehicles and allow them to engage in high-speed chases.
                 We populate drug task forces and heavily armed SWAT teams with municipal officers.
                 We give them all sorts of high-tech equipment that can be used to investigate and peer into the private lives of suspected criminals.
                 We trust to safely handle and carry dangerous weapons -------- from pistols all the way up to (apparently, according to the chief) machine guns.
                 But we don't trust them to use radar guns to stop speeders?
                 That 's ridiculous.
                 Worse ------ it's insulting.
                 State lawmakers' steadfast refusal to OK municipal police radar implies a lack of trust ------ suggesting they think the men and women in blue protecting our towns, cities and countryside are incompetent Barney Fifes.
                 Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation that forbids radar for municipal officers.  State police are peermitted to use this effective, accurate tool, but local police officers must use cumbersome clocking and timing mechanisms to enforce speed limits.
                The result is that speed enforcement is not as robust on roads not patrolled by state police.
                Many drivers know this, and they flout local speed limits ------ figuring the likelihood of being stopped is low.
                And that's dangerous.
                Some lawmakers recognize the inequities here and have tried to llow radar for local cops.
                Legislation has repeatedly been proposed, only to languish.  State Rep. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe County, has been trying to change the law for some time.
               He said new legislation, HB 38, helps address concerns that small departments would abuse radar, setting up speed traps that are more focused on revenue than road safety.
               Is this the year?  Are our legislations ready to help push this measure through?