How do I figure out when a police officer's radar gun was last calibrated?

I was pulled over and given a ticket for speeding in excess of 100 mph, and I would like to contest the ticket or at least attempt to negotiate it down, and I hear that one of the more effective tactics was figuring out whether or not the police officer has calibrated their radar gun within a certain amount of time as required by law. I have the officers radar unit and patrol vehicle number.How do I figure out when a police officer's radar gun was last calibrated?
Fill out a Freedom of Information request. This is supposed to be public knowledge. If they will not release the info consult an attorney.How do I figure out when a police officer's radar gun was last calibrated?
if you were speeding in excess of over 100mph, you better go the judge an plea for mercy from the court.
Most states require the charging officer to show his calibration log to you if you request it. Only problem is that the traffic stop is over and you didn't ask. Sorry.
In Ontario, if you are fighting a traffic ticket you can get what is called ';disclosure'; from the prosecutor. You are entitled to all of the officer's notes on the traffic stop. We usually take notes after a stop and write down all the important things like when we calibrated the radar, traffic conditions, weather etc.


You will be able to see if this was written down. If the officer didn't write it down, you may have something there to fight.


There is a good chance that you may be able to have it reduced.
There are TWO different tests involved. The answerer that said the radar is ';calibrated'; before every shift is not correct.





The radar unit has to be recalibrated and certified once a year. The certificate should be on file with the Police Department.





The Officer will perform a ';calibration check'; only using tuning forks. This will be done at the beginning and end of his shift. That would probably be noted on the Officer's cruiser log and may even be on his ticket statement.





To get either of these you can complete a records request with the agency.





To be honest with you though. The checks and certificates are a normal part of business and you will not likely find a department or officer that did not do those things right. If you were going over 100 MPH you could have been charged with something more serious than speed, you might have already gotten a break on the ticket.
Our officers check calibration at the beginning of every shift and after every traffic stop relating to speed.


You may end up paying more if you contest it due to court costs. Your odds of an officer not keeping up with logs are slim to none.
The fact is you were speeding. It doesn't matter when his radar was callibrated. That is why they put ';in excess of 100 mph'; instead of saying ';103 mph'; That allows for the callibration to be slightly off.





And you are fortunate he did not take you to jail. In Texas it is at the officer's discression once you are going 15 or more miles over the limit to take someone to jail for ';reckless endangerment';. Pay the ticket %26amp; be happy you got off so easy
you need to call a traffic attorney, they generally are able to plea down tickets
good luck. as a police officer in florida we are required to run a test and document the test each day we start our shift. when we go to court we have our log and also the calibration from a company that is certified to test our units. if you were traveling in excess of 100mph i would guess that your citation is criminal, if thats the case, there probably isn't a set fine and you have to appear in court. my best advise is to pay the fine and be glad you didn't spend the night in jail for reckless driving
They are certified, and calibrated. Some calibrate them before each shift. You need an attorney.
Records must be kept on them. If you request the information


they must give it to you.
Stop speeding and you wouldn't be in this situation to begin with.


Respect the Officer, and admit you f'd up.
If you contest the ticket, most likley the log book for that radar unit will be brought to court. If it can't be produced then you will probably get the charge dismissed.
Take the charge to court and contest it on the grounds that you do not believe the radar gun was calibrated properly. The officer will then have to produce the maintenance log for the radar unit and the judge will ask him how he calibrated it.





Most departments follow strict guidelines when calibrating equipment and do it more than what is reccomended because so many people try to get out of tickets that way. Also, any police officer who has gone to any academy was trained on how to calibrate the equipment.





Honestly, if you try to argue this, you will probably just make yourself look like a fool and the judge will be less than thrilled that you are wasting his time.
The radar guns are calibrated before each shift using 2 tuning forks. They must be within 1 or 2 mph to be properly calibrated. The officer will have had to have made a note of this in his/her activity log. When you go to court the officer will state when the gun was calibrated. If they don't state this it is you or your lawyers responsibility to bring this up.