The Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners are urging the passage of two bills in Harrisburg that would permit municipal police departments to use radar to enforce maximum speed limits on roads.

The board of commissioners announced it is supporting the bills at its May 12 meeting. Presently, townships such as Whitehall are not permitted to use radar.

Municipal police and Pennsylvania State Police are by statute authorized to protect the public, primarily through the enforcement of the crimes code and motor vehicle code. However, local police departments are not, by law, authorized to use radar as a means to curb speeding vehicles.

Pennsylvania is the only state in the United States that provides its municipal police a law enforcement mandate and at the same time, prohibits them from using a common and effective piece of speed timing equipment that the Pennsylvania State Police are permitted to use.

The commissioners resolution mentions the inability of municipal police to use radar has resulted in uneven enforcement of the maximum speed laws across the state, as well as contributed to Pennsylvania's distinction as the state with the third highest number of speed related vehicle fatalities and the second highest percentage of speed-related vehicle fatalities in the country.

The commissioners called on the state Senate and House of Representatives to adopt ending bills in their domain, specifically urging the support of state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18, state Representative Daniel McNeill, D-133, and state Representative Julie Harhart, R-183rd.