By Jana Hill
For The Herald
MILL CREEK — Police believe their new radar trailer will encourage drivers to slow down, but compliance is on the honor system.
The white two-wheeled contraption, which sat in the middle of Seattle Hill Road one recent day, consists of a sign with the posted speed limit on top and an electronic display showing the speed limit of approaching cars.
"Our goal is not to increase the amount of speeding tickets," said Michele Pellettieri, community service officer for the Mill Creek Police Department. Instead, the goal is to get drivers to pay attention to their speeds.
The battery-powered trailer has no cameras inside and does not store any information about drivers or their speeds as they travel on roadways.
"The radar trailer is to alert people of what their speeds are. We want compliance. We want people to obey the speed limit," Pellettieri said.
The warning without punishment method is used often by the Mill Creek police. Pellettieri said she picks up a radar gun sometimes to measure vehicle speeds, as do volunteers. License plates are recorded in those instances, and the police department sends out postcards letting the drivers know they were speeding. Those written warnings are purely reminders — they are not kept on file at the police department and are not legal documents, she said.
Mary Waiss lives in Mill Creek and walks on its sidewalks about three or four times a week with her dog. She’s not convinced the radar trailer will help if it doesn’t take pictures or issue tickets.
"I think it’s a curiosity," she said. "If somebody’s going too fast, they know how fast they’re going."
Lance Fay has seen a radar trailer set up down the street from his Edmonds home and thinks they’re helpful. "People that are responsible are going to slow down when they see it," he said.
Mill creek spent $9,300 on its radar trailer, more than the base price of $8,000 and less than the $16,000 top-of-the line model.
Mill Creek Police Chief Bob Crannell called the trailer the "truly the epitome of community-oriented policing — the community polices themselves."
That spirit of prevention is consistent with the goal of the radar trailer. "People are in a hurry," Pellettieri said. They’re thinking about getting their kids to soccer practice and making dinner, not their speed.
Jana Hill is Mill Creek editor of The Enterprise newspaper. She can be reached at 425-673-7533 or at hill@heraldnet.com
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
