Police Viewer??

It would be impossible to create a POI to indicate where police are. They travel in cars, motorcycles, bikes and on foot and they don't post themselves in the same place all the time.

There is a file on here of known speed traps, but even that file is just a heads up that they MIGHT be there.

There is, at this time, no good replacement for eyesight and a good radar detector, with the possible exception of never exceeding the speed limit.

And radar detectors are not that useful anyway so don't spend the money. I have a good one and gave my husband my cheap one. The only time they really work is when your among other cars and they can't pick you out fast enough (with their radar) before YOU find them.

Oh yea thats true, but I can always dream, I guess I will download the speed cameras POI file when I become an active user, and where I live (Longview Texas) They have speed cameras so im glad that file is on there and yes some Radar detectors do work like the high dollar passport escort and valentine but they are like 500 dollars i think..ouch!

And if you really believe that, when you get a ticket it will be double OUCH.

NOTHING will save you from instant-on radar when the traffic is very light. Yes, that is experience talking.

... you are looking for a place where police are plugged. How can you be sure you get the cops to go to the same place twice in a row?

I have seen them along the highways here in so many different places (same cops), so you can not really say if they stay ever in the same place. Especially highway patrol, who are always in pairs (and I mean pairs of cars).

Sorry Lynn, I don't agree with you!
You get what you pay for, sounds like you and your husband both have cheap units or you do not truly understand exactly the operation of your unit. My radar detector is my Bible. Chances are you have been using the cheap gear and at risk since you bought them. If you want some real protection you have to spend the bucks.

For those that are interested, the best out there as of today:
http://www.valentine1.com/
and the best part about them is they never go obsolete, you can always update them.

I agree with what seems to be the majority of the posts so far - the detectors are nice to have, but you can't blindly just hope they'll protect you. You're basically hoping they'll shoot a car around you before they shoot you, giving you time to react and slow-down. If you're the first one they shoot, by the time it beeps and you start to react, their gun has you locked in.

You can think whatever you want but that doesn't change the facts.

If you are the ONLY car on the road (more or less).....at least no cars in front of you as far as you can see.....and a cop is using instant-on radar, you are dead meat.

Now, if all your driving is in an urban environment in the day time, maybe you will never BE in that situation but if and when you are, the best detector in the world won't save you.

Same thing applies if the cop is being selective about who he "shoots". If he hasn't tagged anybody for a couple of miles worth of traffic flow and then picks YOU out......again, dead meat.

The best thing you do is follow the speed limit. you don't have to by any gadget at all also you wil be safe.

I agree that radar detectors are very useful, even the cheaper ones. As pointed out, none of them are that great against Laser and instant on radar because once you realize what is happening, the cop already has your speed.

But they are very useful when cops are just sitting somewhere on the side of the road or traveling towards you with their radar on. You usually get lots of warning to check your speed.

I also find they are most useful for the places you travel most often. One issue is they tend to go off in certain places from other non-police signals. Over time you unconsciencely develope a sense of when it is normal for your radar detector to be going off (e.g. a certain intersection where it just beeps all the time) and when it shoudn't be (e.g. "Hmmm, it never goes off on this road, must be a cop ahead).

And I am not advocating speeding, but it is usually around town and off the highways where you will benefit the most because you tend to travel those areas the most and all towns have those roads with the too-low speed limits (e.g. the 25mph 4 lane straight main road in the middle of town). Or that long downhill where it is easy to not pay attention and have your car coast above the 30 mph speed limit to 40+. In both those places there tends to be that popular speed trap by the local cops.

PT

Can you point me to a saint in this matter?
I'm quite sure you break the rules once in a while.

The problem is that most of the people speed with more than 10 miles over the limit and this ticks off the cops.

Let me guess: You live in Chicago, Atlanta, New York, LA or some other BIG city with lots of freeways, right?

Another guess: You are under 30.

Clue: MOST of the people.....across the country as a whole, do no such thing.

Most people have enough savy to know that the best thing is to keep up with the prevailing traffic.

In a few places, that means 10 or more over the limit but in MOST places that is NOT the case and in a few places, the prevailing flow is pretty close to the limit......even before gas hit $4.

I think it would be possible, if all the police have some sort of gps receiver. Then using our gps we could locate all the police cars.

The GPS system is a one-way system; recieve only. No such thing as a GPS transmitter.

It is possible to locate vehicles with different systems....like LoJack and sattelite systems used by some trucking companies ***BUT*** I'm sure the Cops would really like for the criminals to be able to tell where all their cars are at any given time !! NOT !

KA1167 I agree with you, I sure wouldn't won't my local sherriff's dept to be able to be tracked by every one. It enough you can listen to them on a scanner. I also think a radar detector is a wast of money, and yes I have one that has been on the shelf for 20 years now.

Most Law Enforcement Officers do not have or want a GPS unit in their vehicle. They do not want the Watch Sergent or Watch Commander to know where they are all the time.
Maybe someone should start a poi file on donut shops. Then we would know where the Police, Sheriff, Highway Patrol or State Troopers are. LOL
If you are speeding with the flow of traffic don’t be the Leader or the Last vehicle in the flow. Those are the two easies vehicle to pull over.
That you can take to the bank.

Joe

My point exactly, LynnS just doesn't know how to use or know the sounds the unit makes to make her comfy with it. all though if your unit is good enough and has great response with good rejection, you can tell if a cop is using POP from a a mile or so away as your traveling down the road. if he's siting there he's gonna pull the trigger a few times before you get to him.

Bob

It depends a lot on what kind of speeder you tend to be. I pace traffic mostly, 10 over is about my tops, and the Ka chirps has had me back down and blend in with the pack and let the lead dog take the ticket. I've never gotten pulled over for speeding since I went to radar detectors. detectors are expecially useful in small rural communities IMO. I personally wouldn't go anywhere without one, A GOOD ONE.

The point IS that a standard GPS unit will NOT do that; it sends out nothing.

As the technology catches on more, I think LEOs will want them in the cars. If you can report the trouble location by reading the LON/LAT off of your GPS, they could respond by following theirs.

Most police vehicles and emergency vehicles have GPS units in them. They provide the fastest routes to and from the hospital, accident scenes increasing their response time.

Some have a small unit but most have a full size lap top.

I also believe, ,most cruisers have lojac in them.

I usually drive 5 miles above the speed limit. If I drive more than that I make sure I'm not the only one and I'm not the first or the last in the line. They say you should follow the flow of traffic.

When driving you should use your best judgement. I did not say I don't break the law but I make sure that I will not get caught

I believe the point of this topic was to give the individaul a feel for a speed area and or trap just like the redlight cam POI file that was developed. What I mean is a vecinity where one can give lets say a marker on I-94 that may have a State trooper on or near the over pass from marker E226 to lets say E230. Or maybe, theres a strip where cars tend to drag race, like young bucks, from Oklahoma Ave to Somerset Ln St. Something in this context I believe the threads intent was.

If you're going to speed something like 20MPH over all the time and count on the radar detector saving your but then, yes - it's really not going to help you.

What I find them useful for (and I like the latest Escort 9500i with GPS built in) is those time when the cop is driving down the road with the radar hot or on the side of the road with it just 'on' and it gives you a little heads-up to hit the brakes so you don't get a ticket.

It's basically handy for when they're trolling and you're doing the speed of the traffic (which is always over the speed limit anyway) and you can fall back a bit and let them get someone else.

But, yes, if you're the guy who always has to be passing someone then they're going to pop you anyway.

The Escort 9500i has GPS built-in which is nice for muting bogus radar (like door openers to Walgreens) and marking speed traps where they just hang out using LIDAR (laser) to tag people. You can mark it once and then the next time you go through you get a heads up of 'Speedtrap' on the display so you get a reminder to slow down.

We have a BINGO!!!
sidvic999 Take your card to the front to have it verified, What a great answer! You hit it directly on! I also have never gotten pulled over for speeding since I went to a radar detector. and detectors are especially useful in all city sizes.

You just have to learn how to use it properly!

Bob

I'm actually driving the speed limit now. I used to drive 5-10MPH over (or whatever the flow of traffic was) but, with gas prices and stepped up enforcement of bogus speed limits (I maintain that if everyone is speeding the speed limit is wrong, not everyone), I just gave up and said, "Screw it - I'll drive the speed limit and not have to screw with the cops bugging me / randomly picking me out of a crowd of cars all going the same speed safely, just so he can make his quota.

I keep to the right.

Close. Probably better to say the GPSr only receives lat/lon coordinates. There are, in fact, several companies to produce 2 way gps units. These are used by some companies with a fleet of vehicles. They are used to track employee movement. They can be set to warn about speeding, vehicles being used after work, etc. Some of these systems are quit impressive. Our Fire Department is getting ready to go with a GPS system that will automatically pick the required equipment that is available and closest to call. It will even provide directions to the call. This is, to be sure, two way communication.

Back to the posters question: why in the world would any cop want anyone to know were they are, be it a duty sgt., bad guy, or me booking down the road?

No, not close.

What you describe is a hybrid system. It uses GPS receivers and some OTHER kind of transmitter. Could be GSM (cellular) or 2-way sattelite or Ham radio, etc. but it is NOT GPS.

The only thing transmitting in the GPS system is the birds in orbit.

Even the best radar detector will not have enough time to warn you of laser guns ahead under these conditions:

1. In short distance, the thin beam of the laser gun simply does not give out enough energy to trigger the alarm on your laser detector.

2. When driving through hills and curves, the laser detector is unable to pick up the weak stray beams from a laser gun to give you an early warning. By the time you hit the curve and see the officer, he/she is already aiming at you and you are it!

3. I read somewhere that light car colors have a better chance than darker ones to cause false readings on the laser gun due to interference from sunlight.

Just my two cents worth.

So YOUR that guy that gets on my tail when Im moving along in the left lane ...

Probably

yup... 5 above is my max. Unless I am passing a slow-poke.

I love seeing those stupid kids in their fast and furious cars getting pulled over by the po-po. It is Karma and I love Karma.

There is a POI that gives you the exact location of every individual law enforcement officer in the United States. Its just really, really secret. I am really, really being sarcastic too.

Well said and a good reply. I agree.

Yes. New York -- don't have to guess, it is in my profile -- Hoboken, NJ

Nope -- over 40 and still driving like the rest around me.

You knowledge is wrong. I have travelled in most of thge states -- your statement is not true, definitely.

... I sort of took it that they were looking for the cop's favorite spots. I know in my little, podunk, white bread, redneck, southern town there are at least 4 spots that if I were a betting man I'd bet there was a police car sitting at one of them right now. And yet somehow they are always lighting up people in these areas... go figure!

Anyhow, as I said I thought they were looking for local "speed traps" not to try to aquire radar/laser units.

You are entitled to your opinion. I have driven in all but 7 of the States including Hawaii but not Alaska. The missing ones are mostly from your area.
Wonder if that accounts for part of our different perception??

I'm sorry but I believe it is NOT true that most of the people drive MORE than 10 mph over the speed limit. When you get away from the big cities, I believe it's nowhere near to being true.

We will have to agree to disagree because I doubt that there is any reliable data availble.

Who cares if we are right or wrong. The important thing is that the roads be safe. Even if you speed, but pay attention on the road, not a big deal. It is a different story when you speed (not even) and hold a cell phone to your head or put on yourself make-up or drive with your knees or many of this sort of things which people do when they are driving and are more often seen than speeding.

I think driving is driving and that's all it should be. Whoever wants to drive and do something else along, they are dangerous and should be punished accordingly. In NJ -- still no big fines on talking on cell phone while driving. The cops don't care about that and I have seen accidents, happening because of this exact reason -- lack of attention to the driving itself.

Maybe a POI of Krispy Kreme locations would be a good start

There ARE some well known spots, at least where i live, where the police sit along the freeway. Lots of trees where i live, so there are lots of spots the police have built little ramps along the freeway to hide and use their radar. Most of the locals take extra care to watch their speed at these spots.

It would definatly be a lot of work though, to collect all this info. Would look really suspicious if a cop came buy to see yoiu pulled over near one of his regular hiding places, trying to get a good GPS reading.

That is what Google Maps, Google Earth, and other online map sites with satellite imaging come in handy. You can just click on the spot and get the coordinates without leaving your house.

PT

But, relating to the most recent posts - there is at least one web site dedicated to listing known speed traps and places where police are known to sit...
A yahoo search for "speed trap exchange" will give you one of them.

Having kids and "trying" to set a good example, I've set the cruise control on 45 (GPS, not speedometer) when driving through the Chicago construction zones.) I sit in the far right lane, feeling like I'm sitting still while being passed. Only a few weeks ago it happened that two of the cars that "flew" by me were sitting on the side of the road in the middle of the construction zone with Officer Friendly's parked behind them - presumably issuing citations.

There is another local street near home that is notorious for having the police sitting in side streets pulling people over for going over 30. Whenever I go that route, I set the cruise on 30, and ignore the passers' by. One morning, I felt good and now know that it's worth it. An officer stepped out in the middle of the street, stopping traffice in both lanes. He pointed to a car, and motioned to pull off the road. He pointed to the car in the other lane - same thing. He pointed to me, and motioned to proceed. Car behind me had to pull over. As it turns out, they can discriminate faster and slower vehicles, not just the front one in the line. There were several police cars on the side street, so they were well manned for stopping multiple people at once. (stopping the thought that "hey, they can't get everybody.")

I absolutely believe in the speed limits for construction activity and the penalties that go with them......however....

Knowing that the contractors in Chicago don't bother to "adjust" the signs according to what is going on......there can be 10 miles of the Tri-State marked as 45 construction without a single worker in sight.....for days on end.

I realize that the law still applies in that situation but I also realize that, as a practical matter, you are probably creating more danger by going 45 than are ALL the rest of those folks who are "speeding".

And, for folks not familiar with that area, the posted limit is 55; the prevailing speed (non-construction) is usually 75.

What speed do you set the cruise at on the Tri-State under "normal" conditions? Even the right lane usually moves at 65-70.

When I see spots where radar is, I mark the position and set a speed indicator. Most people drive the same routes so you'll become familar with where radar usually is.

I keep them in a folder called Speed, then I have my points in separate folders according to speed, for example: 50MPH or 35MPH, then I put a brief name (like intersection or driveway) so I can edit them later as the speed limits change a lot in my area.

If you look you'll find POI's with the NYPD, Nassau County PD, Suffolk County PD and all NJ county PD locations listed. You can always stop in any one of them to say thanks and stay safe, and tell 'em they're doing a great job!

Oh, and while you're at it just ask them where exactly do they hang out when on patrol - especially the UC's!

Mike

Hey RacerX
I noticed in your signature – Eat at Joes
Is that on Sepulveda in the South Bay, across from the P.D. in R.B.?????

joemac

Unfortunately one day everything will probably have RFID technology attached to it and then you will know where all the police are, the bad thing is they will already know how fast you were going......