Hi,

I am currently in Michigan. I was pulled over while heading to southern Indiana to see a friend before he left the country for an extended period of time. I was pulled over only about an hour from my house by a city police officer but on an interstate. I've seen this repeatedly as being a form of income for the city police departments. City cops sit on the interstate, pull someone over, and they get part of that fine when the person pays. The problem is that he says he clocked me going 82 in a 70 but my speedometer was definitely not that high.

I got in touch with an officer at the police department that claimed that "every time the unit is turned on, it performs a self-check and the officers know that if the unit fails the check to report it immediately." My issue is not that the unit worked when I was pulled over, but that it wasn't accurate. By the sound of this police officer, they never perform a tuning fork test on their radar units to make sure the radar is still accurate. While on the phone, I was told that the radar is a Stalker brand radar but was not given a model number. The officer also said he would email me the documentation of when the unit was installed (the last time it was actually calibrated.) but he never did. I have called him back several times and left voicemails with no success of getting a return phone call.

According to the Stalker website, they don't post their operating manuals on the website because people tend to use that information to fight their tickets, as I am. But they say they will comply with a court order to hand over the information. Obviously, I don't really want to hire a lawyer to request the subpoena. Does anyone know the procedure for doing this and where to find the proper forms? Or, if I do hire a lawyer, how much should this cost? The fine was $150, which I can't really afford to pay since I have so many student loan payments right now. But I'm just peeved that the city PD can basically make money off of having a radar that never gets calibrated properly.

Sidenote: I was able to find a manual for A stalker radar unit (unknown if it is the same one used in this case) and they write, "Some departments perform the tuning fork test after each traffic stop." Doesn't this suggest that a radar unit isn't meant to be considered accurate just because it passed the turn on self test?

Edit: for clarification I received the ticket in Michigan. Was simply giving context to the situation.