Broken Arrow Police using a variety of ways to slow down speeders

Broken Arrow is growing fast. But motorists had better slow down. That's the word from Broken Arrow Police who were strategically placed in one of the city's many construction zones, looking

Thursday, March 28th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Broken Arrow is growing fast. But motorists had better slow down. That's the word from Broken Arrow Police who were strategically placed in one of the city's many construction zones, looking for speeders.

As the News on Six reporter Steve Berg explains, BA Police spotted the motorists long before the motorists spotted them. The man on this steamroller is hard at work. Not on the road. Officer: "44, white van." But finding speeders on the road. Officer: "He's 45 now." Broken Arrow Police officers are posing as construction workers to catch them in the act. And when they do, the drivers are detoured. Officer: "Can I see your driver's license and insurance verification please ma'am." For a little constructive criticism. "Street back there is a construction zone."

Broken Arrow Police officer Lt Kevin Marks, "We've got to create a safe environment for the workers that are helping build this city." The police are obviously hard to spot. But too often, it's the real workers that are overlooked. Construction worker, Robert Boen, "these people could get run over at any time, theyâ€™re just driving too fast. Yesterday, we was right down here working and one lady just about ran over us, y'know right here on the side of the road."

"The speed limit in the construction zone is clearly marked at 25 miles per hour, but some violators are going so fast, it's almost like they have the numbers reversed." Lt Kevin Marks, Broken Arrow Police Dept: "In a 25 mile per hour speed zone, we've stopped people so far at 52 miles per hour. That's definitely putting these workers in danger."

Broken Arrow is growing so fast, it has a lot of construction zones. So when they're done here, they'll move to another one with different tricks. "We'll probably be in different vehicles, we'll use different props." But with the same basic tool.

Broken Arrow Police were using a device called "Li-dar". It uses a laser beam instead of RADAR. It's very accurate, and even with the right kind of detector, it's tough for a speeder to spot.