Aug 31 2010
The Hickory Police Department, in order to decrease traffic and enhance safety along the N.C. 127, U.S. 70, and U.S. 321 highways, has purchased the ProLaser III LIDAR guns for the Traffic Safety division. The department has also bought additional LIDAR guns to be used by other officers during shifts.
Officer using the LIDAR gun to detect speeds
The LIDAR guns can gauge speeds of vehicles from a maximum distance of 4,000 feet away, and has the ability to focus on one car from a pack of 10. The gun sends out infrared laser pulses, which widen to a beam measuring 3-feet wide at a distance of 1,000 feet.
When a police officer witnesses a vehicle moving at high speed, he looks at the vehicle through LIDAR’s sight. The officer then frames a red holographic square on the moving vehicle and pulls the trigger button, until the chirps of the gun change into an electronic shriek denoting a signal lock. The duration taken for the whole process is roughly three seconds. The screen then displays the speed and distance of the vehicle.
Hickory’s Traffic Safety Unit officer, Sgt. Cam Anderson stated that the LIDAR gun could be used for gauging the speed of vehicles either moving towards or going away from it.