Town will check for speeders with portable radar display

TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. » Complaints to town officials about speeding are being met with a new portable radar sign that shows how fast vehicles are traveling on both sides of the road.

Town Board members authorized the purchase of the $41,000 sign and mobile trailer at a meeting Thursday. Officials said the goal is both to encourage drivers to slow down and to determine which neighborhoods need speed enforcement.

“I’m hoping to use this piece of equipment to better enforce traffic concerns within neighborhoods in the town’s jurisdiction without having to utilize manpower to do it,” town Police Chief Kyle Berardi said. “Unfortunately we have a large amount of concerns throughout the town. I don’t have enough officers to address every concern.”

The new equipment is being purchased from NDI Recognition Systems of Winter Springs, Florida.

“I will try to utilize it in different neighborhoods throughout the year,” Berardi said. “At first it will be used to address concerns in problem areas that are reported to us ...

and then, periodically, I’d just move it from neighborhood to neighborhood.”

A letter from NDI Recognition Systems says the trailer is solar powered with a battery assist that will operate for about a week before a recharge is needed. There is also a license plate reader that will provide real-time information to the Ulster County Vehicle Intelligence Server and Communications Engine system.

“Your office can establish a direct connection to the Ulster server so you may view the license plate reads,” company representative Mike Murray wrote.

Berardi noted that while the trailer can record license plates and the speed of a vehicle, it cannot be used as the basis for issuing tickets.

“We can’t issue based on mechanical means,” he said. “We have to actually physically witness it. It’s more to curtail traffic complaints than to issue traffic citations.”

Berardi said the appearance of a radar sign alone will have a calming effect on traffic.

“It’s kind of like a community police thing where people see it and they naturally slow down, so hopefully it will make the neighborhood safer,” he said. “The unfortunate thing is a lot of people don’t look at their speedometers in their vehicles so it doesn’t ring a bell to them that they are speeding.”