Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/05/515.asp
7/10/2005
Kansas Town's Police Radar Training Challenged in Court
Lawrence, Kansas man spends $1000 to challenge a $45 speeding ticket issued by a police officer with no formal radar training.
Lawrence, Kansas resident Zamir Bavel is mounting a court challenge to a speeding ticket he received in March 2004. Unlike the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's standard of 24 hours of classroom instruction, 16 hours of field training and a written test before certifying an operator of radar speed guns, the Lawrence cop had received nothing but "on the job training."
Kansas law does not require any specific amount of training, but Bavel believes the officer's lack of formal instruction must be the reason he was stopped for speeding at Ousdahl and 19th streets. He backs up his claim of innocence with polygraph test results that suggest he isn't lying.
"This is not about money," Bavel told the Lawrence Journal-World. He wants his case to be used to change the Lawrence Police Department's training procedures. Douglas County District Judge Robert Fairchild will hear Bavel's case on Monday at 10 a.m.
Article Excerpt:If Bavel isn't successful, he has the opportunity again to appeal the judge's decision. He said he would take this matter to the Kansas Supreme Court if need be. But if he is successful, Bavel will be found innocent of speeding and won't have to pay his fine. But that wouldn't leave him feeling vindicated, he said. "This is a matter of principle," Bavel said. "I am more interested in reforming the police department than being found not guilty. I am dead-set on making this matter known to people."
Source: Speeding ticket case bounces radar reading back at police (Lawrence, Kansas Journal-World, 7/10/2005)
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