News Summary

HAMILTON — For participating in and enforcing national drunk driving and seat belt campaigns in 2006, the Hamilton Police Department has been awarded a new $1,400 radar device by the state of Ohio.

The new MPH Pithon III, which the department received Tuesday, is a dashboard mounted radar unit that will be used as a tool in one of the department's traffic unit vehicles to apprehend speeding violators, said Hamilton police Officer Dave Crawford, a spokesman for the department.

The device was purchased with money from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is distributed by the Ohio Department of Public Safety, said Chris Robertson, law enforcement liaison for the Governor's Safety Office, a part of The Ohio Department of Public Safety.

"It's (the device) moving radar, which allows the officer to be in motion and catch oncoming (speeding) traffic," Robertson said.

The speed measuring unit also can catch motorists when the device is stationary, he said.

Crawford said the department is "delighted" to receive the radar equipment that will save taxpayers additional money.

"We do participate in education and enforcement during the various blitzes," he said.

The annual campaigns the department participates in, along with the Butler County DUI Task Force, by increasing its patrols and visibility are: Click It or Ticket, What's Holding You Back and You Drink, You Drive, You Lose campaigns.

"It's a big cooperation of local law enforcement agencies that participate in these campaigns; it's partially a media campaign, but then it's also backed up by increased enforcement efforts — both on seat belts and drunk drivers," Robertson said.

"We take all the agencies that do all the things we ask them to do and do it well, and then they are given some sort of equipment as an incentive to cooperate and participate."

In addition, he said the program gives law enforcement agencies equipment to continue enforcement activities.

Besides Hamilton, he said only two other law enforcement agencies in Butler County qualified and did all the things they were asked to do: the West Chester Twp. and Miami University police departments that also were awarded radar devices.

Robertson said to qualify, law enforcement agencies had to sign up to participate in the campaigns, put out media releases on them, make presentations to community groups and schools about seat belt safety and impaired driving, increase enforcement during the blitzes and report enforcement, public outreach and media activities to the state.

"Then that (information) is submitted to the federal level and they compile all those statistics for all 50 states to gauge and measure how effective the program is," he said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2190 or dewilson@coxohio.com.