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Australian Court Hands U.S. Radar Company Major Victory in Legal Challenge

DECATUR, IL — Australian courts handed U.S. based Decatur Electronics, Inc. and its moving radar a major victory late last year in a court test in Queensland, Australia.

In Police vs. Favero, Livio Rino Favero argued against his traffic ticket issued by the Queensland Police Service for driving at more than double the speed limit in a construction zone. He attacked the credibility of the Decatur Genesis II radar used by the ticketing officer with testimony from Roy Zegers of Radar Speed Measurements in Australia. Zegers and other Favero witnesses claimed the case was a major test of the accuracy of the Decatur Genesis II and the validity of the testing and operational regimes of the Queensland Police Service.

Decatur, a leading manufacturer and distributor of radar units worldwide, supported the local police in their court battle against Favero. Decatur’s lead radar engineer testified in conjunction with the Australia National Association of Testing Authorities, the Queensland Police Service and other prosecution witnesses.

The Australian judge, Acting Magistrate Roger Stark, described the test as “hardly the usual case in respect to speeding.” The Australian police viewed the case as a challenge to the more than 500 Decatur Genesis radar devices in use in Australia. Due to the significance of the case, the magistrate reviewed the case for three months before handing down a guilty sentence to Favero at the end of January.

Decatur Electronics, Inc. CEO Jim Sanner called the victory a major win for law enforcement in Australia and across the world. He said, “This court test validates the reliability and evidentiary value of Decatur Electronics’ Genesis radars.”

The court decision reaffirmed the Genesis II’s ability to credibly corroborate and verify officers’ assessment of speed violations. Favero’s $700 speeding fine turned into almost $50,000 in costs and fines, as well as six months loss of license. None of Favero’s experts showed up for sentencing.

Kimble Smith, Decatur’s lead engineer and designer of the Genesis II, called the case unfortunate.

“Favero’s witnesses argued the Genesis II wasn’t certified by the International Association of Chiefs of Police,” Smith said. “Unfortunately for them, it is.”

Garry Hawgood, representing Decatur Electronics in Australia, said the case should lay to rest many of the legal challenges and media hype surrounding radar use by officers.

“We won the case simply by giving all the evidence openly and truthfully,” he said. “This victory categorically refutes biased attacks waged against traffic radar and specifically the Genesis II in Queensland.”

Decatur Electronics, headquartered in Decatur, IL, created the first radar for police officers in the 1950s. The company’s innovations have led the field, with the Genesis I and II units setting standards for small size in-car units and the Genesis Versa-Pak® and Genesis Handheld Directional units paving new roads in handheld radar. The company also manufactures radar for sports, industrial applications and OEM products for companies including Harley-Davidson™, Polaris™ and Jugs™, and manufactures OnSite™ radar and message trailers, and Gemini™ digital in-car video. In addition, the company operates an engineering technology facility in Ft. Collins, CO, and a high-tech vehicle outfitting division, ThunderWorks Mobile Engineering, in Santee, CA.

For more information about Decatur and its products, visit the website www.decaturradar.com.

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