Danger in The Speed Trap

By Philip Elmer-DeWitt

Speeding motorists have long lived in fear of the state trooper armed with a radar gun. Now it turns out that the troopers themselves may be at risk. Last week the Connecticut state police banned the use of hand-held speed detectors after three officers filed claims saying long-term exposure to the guns gave them cancer.

The Connecticut action, the first of its kind by a state police department, brings to light a controversy that has been brewing quietly in the law- enforcement community for more than a year. Across the U.S., dozens of cops who work with radar guns day in and day out have developed cancers of suspicious origin. Two California troopers who regularly rested the gun on their lap developed cancers on their legs. Another, who jammed the gun between his legs, got testicular cancer. Several officers have developed rare cancers of the eye and eyelid -- apparently from operating the radar units too close to the head.

While the cases could be coincidental, there is an easy way for the troopers to avoid radar exposure: by simply mounting the transmitter on the roof of the police car, away from the officers. But the issue underscores a broader debate about the dangers of long-term exposure to radiation across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Like power lines and computer screens, radar guns are manufactured to meet exposure standards set by government and industry. Yet power lines have been linked to high incidences of cancer, and questions have been raised about the safety of computers. Some scientists -- including those advising the Bush Administration -- have dismissed the risks, and the government has been slow to fund further studies. Now state troopers are joining those urging researchers to step on it.