If You Speed, Say ‘Cheese’ and Expect a Ticket : Safety: A snappy new radar system in National City enables police to photograph speeders and send a ticket in the mail.

Say “cheese!” The National City Police Department is using a snappy system that could catch you when you least expect it. But you might not realize it until you get your speeding ticket in the mail--and the police have a photo to prove it.

In an effort to curb traffic accidents, the National City Police Department has started using PhotoRadar, a computerized speed-enforcement system that combines a camera with radar technology, automatically snapping pictures of those exceeding the speed limit.

“The camera doesn’t care who you are,” said Lt. William Osburn of the National City Police Department. “You could be the mayor, the chief of police--it doesn’t matter. It will write you the citation. . . . This is the same as any other ticket and you can plead in court, but as far as beating the radar and the photograph, that’s very difficult.”

The National City’s is the first police department in San Diego County to use PhotoRadar, a $150,000 system that superimposes onto a photograph the date of the speeding violation, the time and location, as well as the violator’s speed and the issuing officer’s badge number.

The camera is mounted in a police truck. In front of the truck, in which an officer is always present, is a large digital readout that tells drivers how fast they’re traveling. The camera only photographs those who are speeding, usually in excess of 10 m.p.h. over the limit.

The violator’s license plate is photographed, identifying who owns the car. Then the citation goes out in the mail. If you get a citation, but weren’t the one driving the car, you can check the photograph at the police station. Car owners can direct the citation to the person who was actually speeding, but the registered owner of the car has the primary responsibility of either paying the fine or fighting it in court.

“Our goal in this is not to write more citations,” Osburn said. “We’re not trying to punish people. (The department) doesn’t get more money because somebody gets a traffic ticket. Our goal is to reduce the number of accidents.”

In 1989, National City led the state in traffic fatalities and injuries for a city its size: 16 people were killed and 1,029 were injured.

Osburn said many of those accidents were attributed to speeding.

“This will be a reduction in our traffic collision picture,” Police Chief Stan Knee said. “Vehicles come upon the device and immediately slow down.”

Some may slow down, but 600 speeding citations were given in just 12 days. In 1990, an average of 708 citations were issued per month, for violations such as speeding, running a red light or making an illegal turn. “Speeding citations will increase substantially with PhotoRadar,” Osburn said.

The camera was set up April 16, and, so far, the citations have just been warnings. But starting May 16, the citations will be real. Osburn said the system will operate about 35 hours a week during morning and evening rush hours.

The high-tech system, which has been used in Europe since 1968 and made its way to the United States in 1987, will be used by National City in school zones and on residential and high-accident streets, Knee said.

“I would say within two years, the majority of the cities in the county will have this system,” he said. Currently, more than 2,500 U.S. cities use photo radar systems. One system used in Paradise Valley, Ariz., led to a 46% reduction in traffic accidents after it was implemented, Osburn said.

The National City Police Department has contracted with San Diego-based U.S. Public Technologies for the equipment. The equipment comes at no cost to the department, except for maintenance and gas costs for the police truck. U.S. Public Technologies is paid on a per-ticket basis, after the city collects revenue from the citations, said Alan Viterbi, a company spokesman.

Osburn acknowledged that some consider the process an invasion of privacy.

“We checked it out with the district attorney and our city attorney’s office,” Osburn said. “The legal question is: Does the person have a reasonable expectation of privacy by driving down a public street and committing a crime? Speeding, in essence, is a crime. It is a California law punishable by a fine, therefore, the police have a duty to investigate that crime. Nobody has a reasonable expectation of privacy while involved in criminal activity in a public place.”

Osburn said the system allows officers to direct their attentions elsewhere, and is beneficial for safety reasons, too.

“Police officers have safety concerns about stopping vehicles,” Osburn said. “A lot of cops get killed that way. . . . The public has concerns too. When you’re pulled over, there could be a lot of potential violations. The only thing we’re looking at here is speeding.”