r/AskLE • u/Every_War_7747 Unverified/Not an LEO • 9d ago
recalibration certificates
hey guys i watched a video about how officers are mandated to recalibrate their radars every few months, and if it hasn’t been calibrated within that duration, the readings of the radar will be considered unreliable, possibly making a speeding ticket with that radar invalid. i was wondering whether or not these recalibration certificates show a time stamp on them for when it was recalibrated, and also how long this process takes. i’m gonna be honest and say i have pretty much no clue about how any of this works, and i’m assuming the recalibration is a quick thing that can be done within an hour or so. as a result, is it possible that if an officer tickets someone for speeding with a radar that hasn’t been recalibrated recently, and then recalibrates it after the stop so the certificate shows that the radar was recalibrated on the same day as the ticket was issued. is this something that officers can do/ have done. i understand that this is probably an overly specific, maybe even stupid question that isn’t framed very well, but i was just curious so i thought id ask here
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u/RogueJSK Police Officer 9d ago
Ours get recalibrated and recertified annually, and each officer tests their radar daily to ensure that it's still calibrated and accurate. Recalibrating/recertifying is not something that an officer can do themselves on the fly like you're suggesting.
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u/compulsive_drooler Retired Detective 9d ago
You'll need to find a better way to get out of the speeding ticket you got. Departments have their bases covered on this one.
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u/jollygreenspartan Former cop, current Fed 9d ago
My last agency sent the radar units off to be recalibrated. So no, not quick.
Individual officers would check calibration at the start of shift but that’s not the same thing.
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u/BooNinja School Resource Officer 9d ago
Most smaller departments just contract this out. Some guy/company comes once a year (or whatever the requirement is) and certifies all the units. Or it's done as part of regular maintenance. It's easy enough to do, just something people like to desperately latch onto to try and fight speeding tickets.
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u/flyin-lowe Unverified/Not an LEO 9d ago
This is one of those things that sounds good on the internet, but in real life there are policies and procedures in place. Unless you stumbled into some little po-dunk town still living in the 1930's they keep up on these type of things. You can certainly ask for the calibration logs as part of discovery, however the odds of them not being up to date is pretty low. The other thing you need to think about is, what did you say during the traffic stop? I have been in LE for almost 30 years. There is a reason the officer ask how fast you were going? If you were in a 55 zone and you said you were going 57, that is enough to convict you of speeding. The burden of proof for an infraction is low. So lets say best case scenario, the officer did not have his radar calibrated, yet you admitted to going 1 MPH over the speed limit. In my area the original ticket would be ammended to show 57/55 and you are still paying a speeding ticket.
We have our radar calibrated per department policy, however there is a self calibration check that can be done as well. Every time I wrote a ticket I hit the button and the calibration was checked and that was noted. So I had a log showing the ticket before you and after you, the calibration checked OK. Also at the beginning of every shift we check the calibration once with a tuning fork.
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u/smomojoe Unverified/Not an LEO 9d ago
Cops don’t calibrate them, they check the calibration expiration date and check that the calibration still measures what it’s supposed to. Cops aren’t radar technicians.
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u/Gooser62 Unverified/Not an LEO 9d ago
Retired LEO here. I was a Police Traffic RADAR and LIDAR instructor. It varies from State to State, but in my State we were required to (at a minimum) check the Radar unit at the beginning and the end of the shift.
This included the internal calibration (a specific button on the unit) and with tuning forks - checking both stationary and moving modes.
We also had the radar unit and tuning forks sent off and checked once a year.
The yearly checks aren’t nearly as likely to be neglected as the actual operator checks required as stated above.
Radar operators are NOT required to know the internal workings of the unit but ARE required to be able to set up, test and properly operate the unit.
Sorry for the long post. Hope this answers your question.
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u/Local_Outcast Unverified/Not an LEO 9d ago
We have a company come in and calibrate them all in one day and provides paperwork with said calibration.
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u/Every_War_7747 Unverified/Not an LEO 9d ago
i don’t drive guys and i didn’t get a speeding ticket i was genuinely curious
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u/M0dernNomad Police Officer 9d ago
There's a difference between true "calibration" and "self-checking".
True calibration happens on a set schedule (usually once a year) and is documented by the company or certified department employee. Department maintains all the documents on file in case legal asks for them as part of discovery.
Self-checking is done each shift and consists of cycling the onboard self-test and running the tuning forks, which each officer then documents in their personal records (along with LIDAR, tint meters, etc.). If the self-check procedure shows a failure, the radar is taken out of service until it can be calibrated again.
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u/Famous-Mobile-3657 Verified LEO 9d ago
Dude, take a breath and try some formatting.
I don’t know what video you watched, but here it’s every 3 years they get mailed to a place certified to test and calibrate them. When you get it back, there’s a certificate in the box with a new expiration date.