Youngstown Issues 1,000 Speeding Tickets in 12 Days with New Radar Guns

The Youngstown Vindicator — aka The Vindy — reports that the city police department is about to mail out 1,000 speeding tickets gathered over the past 12 days. Most of the tickets were picked up on State Rt. 711 and I-680.

"In comparison," The Vindy's David Skolnick writes, "the city issued 960 speeding tickets all of last year and 1,050 in all of 2013."

The new radar guns allow officers to catch speeders and later mail them the ticket, rather than initiate a traffic stop. As these traffic guns are held by hand, the process circumvents state law that prohibits "unmanned" traffic cameras.

Here's one more tidbit from the paper:

When asked if the citations are a “money grab” by the city, [Mayor John A.] McNally said, “I don’t have a thought on that. There’s a fine, but we look at it as a safety issue."