Police Use New Technology To Catch Speeders In Cleveland, Oklahoma

Police in one Green Country community are taking a new hi-tech approach to catching speeders.

The city of Cleveland is staying on top of speeding drivers thanks to the help of some new technology that tracks how fast people are going and sends the information straight to the officers' smart phones.

"Our tickets in the school zone have went down almost to none because people are being reminded, hey, it's school zone time," said Cleveland Police Chief Clinton Stout.

Stout said they've been working hard to crack down on speeding drivers in school zones and the new signs will be a big help to their small department.

"They can record constantly and we can go download that and see what time of day that we are having a problem with people speeding in the area so we can do our enforcement better," Stout said.

The signs can track how fast drivers are going in a certain area and sends the information straight to the officer's phone with Bluetooth technology.

"It doesn't download any video or pictures of any motorists or vehicles, but it does give me data of when people are speeding and when they are speeding the most," Stout said.

Right now the signs are set up around Cleveland Public School's campus to help encourage drivers to slow down.

"It gives their speed as they approach the threshold of 20 miles per hour. During the school zone it will start flashing yellow and then it will flash red if they go over the speed limit," Stout said.

"We work well with the police department. They spot check and come in and out but knowing that that's gonna be there all the time is gonna be really beneficial to our school system," said Alan Baker, Cleveland High School Principal.

The signs cost about $2,000 a piece but Stout said they believe it was a good investment for the city.

"You know if it helps save the life of one kid in our school zone, you can't put a price tag on a kid's life," Stout said.

Stout said the signs are going to stay around the schools until the end of the school year, but they are portable so they could be moved in the near future.