OPP SpeedSpys monitor Wellington County speeders

GUELPH — Wellington County OPP officers have a new way of spying speeding motorists.

In an effort to better focus efforts to monitor and identify problem areas for higherimpact enforcement of speed limits, the local OPP has added a new tool: SpeedSpy, by Decatur Electronics.

Wellington OPP acquired three SpeedSpy units in January with funding assistance from county government. Although it’s still too early to tabulate results, traffic Sgt. Rob Nixon is impressed with preliminary indications.

It’s an improvement over sending out traffic officers in cruisers to randomly monitor roads.

“It’s definitely a smarter way of doing it. It’s a nice piece of equipment,” Nixon said Tuesday.

“It’s really a good tool to help focus ourselves.”

The goal, he said, is to save lives and reduce injuries by discouraging the speeding that’s a major factor in vehicle crashes.

Guelph Police Service Const. Mike Gatto reported his force hasn’t debated using SpeedSpy as of yet.

SpeedSpy, at under $2,500 per unit, is an automated, compact mobile radar unit “in a box” that can be left discreetly at a specific location, such as hanging on a pole or tree, where it can zero in on a traffic corridor or intersection, gathering traffic flow and individual vehicle data to relay to police. Examining the information a day or two later tells police when habitual speeders are most commonly appearing, narrowing enforcement efforts to catch them and discourage future speeding.

OPP in Norfolk County, in the Simcoe, Ont. area, began using SpeedSpy last fall, Nixon noted. According to a published report it’s allowed them to concentrate enforcement that’s significantly cut down on collisions.

“It’s really worked in Norfolk County,” traffic Const. Mark Jones said at that detachment Wednesday.

Wellington OPP are deploying the devices at a variety of locations, typically for a day at any one site before moving.

“We move them throughout the county,” Nixon said.

“We deploy in areas that have concerns to both the police and the public.” A side benefit is the devices not only identify problem areas, but rule out others where a concern proves groundless, judging by the data collected, he added.

But with information to date so preliminary, Nixon is reluctant to publicly identify specific problem locations and times, though that information may be made available after a solid picture emerges, he noted. It’s still early days, but he’s encouraged. “The equipment has worked excellently,” Nixon said.