Officers at Ohio University Police Department haven’t been effectively measuring speeds on and around campus.
Officers at Ohio University Police Department haven’t been effectively measuring speeds on and around campus.
But a recently purchased toy will change that.
OUPD bought a $1,800 radar unit for a police cruiser because, as Lt. Tim Ryan put it, the department didn’t have the necessary equipment to properly measure how fast motorists speed through campus.
“This certainly enhances our ability to do that,” Ryan said. “It is an accurate way of measuring speed.”
Encompassing new training and equipment, the heightened enforcement is part of an effort the OU President Roderick J. McDavis’ Advisory Council on Campus Safety recommends to increase safety on campus roadways.
Ryan said officers will start using the radar unit once they all have been trained and certified. But how long that may take is unclear. Initial estimates pegged early August as the start date for the initiative, but Ryan said last week officers were still in training.
Aside from the state-of-the- art radar, OUPD also installed an electronic speed limit sign on Stewart Street to ward off would be speeding motorists.
“We plan on moving it around,”
Ryan said. “Using the sign is one way we can increase safety and awareness of the speed limit without having to write tickets.”
The speed limit on campus roadways is typically 25 miles per hour. Most of the fines OUPD officers collect are put in the state’s general fund.
Last fall semester, an OUPD report log shows officers responded to 41 non-crash traffic-related offenses.
Ryan said OUPD is interested in focusing efforts anywhere there is considerable foot traffic.
Jeff Campbell, OU’s director of Environmental Health and Safety Department who sits on the president’s council, said the body has focused its efforts on prevention rather than punishment.
“We’re trying to prevent something from happening, so that we don’t have to worry about ticketing or somebody getting hurt by a car” Campbell said. “If you do it at the after part, it’s too late.”
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