While police officers utilize two different types of speed detecting devices, either a police speed gun – aka police lidars, or standard police radars, it’s important to know that use of a radar jamming device to scramble the police speed detectors are not only illegal, but operating a radar jammer is a federal offense across the U.S.
In actuality, most police officers are no longer in use of radars, though they were fair at determining a vehicle operator’s speed with accuracy. On the other hand, use of a radar detector is not illegal in the state of California, and laser speed guns or lidars are the predominant device utilized by the police at this time.
California Vehicle Code Section 28150 (Division 12: Equipment of Vehicles, Chapter 5: Other Equipment, Article 17: Jamming Devices) defines the following:
(a)No vehicle shall be equipped with any device that is designed for, or is capable of, jamming, scrambling, neutralizing, disabling, or otherwise interfering with radar, laser, or any other electronic device used by a law enforcement agency to measure the speed of moving objects.
(b)No person shall use, buy, possess, manufacture, sell, or otherwise distribute any device that is designed for jamming, scrambling, neutralizing, disabling, or otherwise interfering with radar, laser, or any other electronic device used by a law enforcement agency to measure the speed of moving objects.
(c)Except as provided in subdivision (d), a violation of subdivision (a) or (b) is an infraction.
(d)When a person possesses four or more devices in violation of subdivision (b), the person is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(e)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who has a valid federal license for operating the devices described in this section may transport one or more of those devices if the license is carried in the vehicle transporting the device at all times when the device is being transported.
Radar and laser detectors
Since there are no relevant laws in the state of California to prevent you from using laser detectors or radar detectors, we can consider these devices legal to operate. They are not considered illegal as long as the detection device does not interfere with radar or lidar devices used by law enforcement. Whereas, radar jammers work on the principle of interfering with the frequencies from police radars. Police laser jammers work to interrupt their highly focused beam of infrared light. While their effectiveness is debatable, the fact that they are illegal is not.
If you’ve received a citation for the use of a radar detecting device or jammer, please don’t hesitate to contact Ticket Dismissers’ offices. Let us save you the time and hassle of defendng yourself and being unnecessarily jammed up in court.
