I've heard some complaints that this is a "violation of privacy," that this is "entrapment" and these folks have no right to doing this. I personally feel this is a terrific idea and applaud all involved. It should not bother you in the least unless you are one of the violators. If you are speeding on a public street, then it is not a "private" thing that you are doing. If you are driving at the correct speed limit, then you won't be "entrapped." Those of us with children should all stand up and applaud.

"but you just want to nail 'em."??????? i think this says it all. this is by far the most idiotic idea......... i sure as heck would not want my name in the paper as a stjo sanctioned vigilante radar gun operator. i predict a fire sale on used radar guns on ebay, or a death by beating with said gun. stjo proud at her finest.

....let us not forget...."it suddenly became FUN".

I see nothing wrong with people trying to protect their neighborhood children. If people know who is manning these radar guns & know where they live, they're more likely to slow down in said neighborhood.

Seriously, get a hobby if you have all this free time.

This is a good idea. It's really about safety.

I agree with heritage!!! So what happens if you get two warnings? What if they are so excited about nailing you they write down the wrong plate number? What a waste of time.

I think it would be fun to catch them too, I think it would be a blast! Why not, these people think it is fun to speed through these neighborhoods, while children play in the area.
It would really be refreshing to see people actually support the innocent families in these neighborhoods who have to put up with this rather than those breaking the law, endangering lives and property.

It boggles the mind.....

There are stop signs on either end of my block and it always amazes me how fast people try to go between those two point. I certainly don't want my kids or my neighbors' kids to get plowed by speeders. And I'm sure they probably have to identify the make (or at least the color) of the vehicle they're documenting. Any information on this, News-Press?

If you want to be a responsible citizen, keep your kids off the busy streets. Spend your time having fun with your kids instead of sitting in a van with your neighbor having fun. Bet you like hanging out in donut shops to.

To the tune of "Bad Boys (Cops Theme)"

"Who ya wanna be,
Who ya wanna be,
When you come for me?
Fake Cops
Fake Cops"

It's surprising to see "GladImGone" being so active in their former local newspapers online comments. Maybe you should change your user name to, "ManIMissThatPlace," or perhaps, "ImGoneButCantRsistStirringThePotWehereICameFromBecauseImNotInvolvedInMyLocalCommunityNow."

As far as entrapment, here is most understandable definition;

"Entrapment is encouraging an individual to do something they weren't pre-dispositioned to do."

You can't entrap a speeder beacuse well, they're speeders. It's what they do.

I'm still for the most part undecided about the program. Is it really a way for people to get involved, or a way for the PD to wipe their hands of a situation?

Who keeps the records of those speeding? How can/will those records be used in the future? If someone is observed in 2008 speeding and issued a warning, what happens if they hit and injure a pedistrian in 2011? Will they use this vigilante information in the prosecution of the individual?

That's just a few of my questions concerning this program.

I for one think it is great to see people stand up for their neighborhoods! One of the big problems with this country right now is people setting back ignoring the problems and letting law breakers do what they want. If more people wound take action then maybe we could get this whole county back under control and let the lawless know we will not stand for any more crap!

i agree speeding is rarley necessary and all to dangerous. However, control this problem is not the job of the citzen of st joe but the job of the POLICE depatment. They are trained and paid to control traffic. Now I know someone is going to past a comment about how busy the police are and to them I would say drive past the

I don't think it is such a bad idea. I mean, it could also help police figure out which streets people are speeding on the most and focus on nabbing them. I know I wouldn't mind some neighborhood speed catching vigilantes on King Hill Ave. where speeds sometimes exceed 50 mph in a 35 zone. Police can't be everywhere at once.

Wait a minute...

I wonder if the Mid-Town area could benefit from pro-active community members?

Odd isn't it? People who are fed up with speeding so they do something about it. People who are fed up with dope dealers and wanna-be gangsters do nothing.

I think it's reflective of the individuals in their respective neighborhoods.

I wonder how "idiotic" this program would seem if your child, spouse, pet or parked car were hit by one of these speeders and they drove off.

I'm not sure how I feel about this program either, however, at least these people are getting involved and doing something about a problem they feel strongly about instead of sitting around griping about how the police don't do enough blah blah blah.

to "comment"
Personally, I don't like donut shops, I'd much rather play with my kids in our yard. My problem is if one or more of these morons speeds through and possibly loses control of their vehicle and crashes into the play area my kids are in. Do you REALLY struggle with common sense that hard or are you just putting on an act? I really hope it is the latter.

Great. A pair of Barney Fifes.

are you really deterring speeders? Especially when they now know, all they get is a warning in the mail. I'm sure there are idiots out there who will now see these enforcers, and speed up simply because there is no punishment involved from being caught on their radar. Seems like a waste to me.

Common sense says that you live on a busy and dangerous street at any speed. I would be more concerned with a high speed chase than I would some "moron" crashing through my yard. Faron is a bad street!

If you don't want your kids to get plowed by speeders, maybe you shouldn't let your kids play in the street.

Driving through the hilly parts of Midtown can be like an obstacle course sometimes. You crest a hill and all of a sudden there are two kids playing in the street, so you have to lock up your brakes. Three months ago my car was actually hit by a football that two kids were throwing across the street. I actually drive UNDER the speed limit through there because I don't want to hit some kid. I'm sure that if I did hit someone I would be viewed as some kind of villain while the negligent parents got a free pass. Keep your kids in the yard where they're safe and teach them to cross at the crosswalks.

To sum it up: speeding through a residential area is stupid, but so is playing in the street.

i also laugh when i drive through neighborhoods like new deer park, where parents are out in their driveway drinking some cold ones while kids are playing or riding their bikes in the street. Then they look at you cross-ways as you pass, thinking the street belongs to their kids or something. Clowns.

Are the cops writing tickets on these speeders that are caught by "super neighbors"? If not, then whats the big deal, its no diffrent than kids shooting radar guns around.....

well good going. now that people know who two of the people are who are taking part in this, when one of their neighbors gets a "warning" wonder what kind of retribution there will be.

First, I never said kids should play in the street, I can't stand parents that allow it. But if I understand some of you guys right, you're basically saying it's okay for someone to speed through our neighborhoods as long as we keep our "delinquent" kids out of the way?
Sure makes me feel proud when the kids and people who are trying to make their neighborhood's safer are being viewed as the bad guys by a lot of people.
For the record, I don't live anywhere near Faraon but this is happening all over town. It isn't just on main roads or certain neighborhoods.

If it causes people to drive more cautiously I think it's a good thing.

It's not just speeders that everyone should be worried about! Parents have a responsibility to watch their children when they are outside playing. Many times I drive by neighborhoods and see very small children all alone walking, sitting, and playing on the curb, and running across the street and as I look around no one in site of this child. Now, that is scary.

In my view, this sets a very dangerous precedent when citizens with good intentions take on issues that are borderline with law enforcement. While the end result is a warning from the PD, I question the effectiveness of the warning. The violators are not being ticketed. So after so many warnings on the same individual and I believe this is being tracked in order to justify the program, what happens? If a neighborhood area has a problem with this, than there should be a solution to address it by increasing enforcement and tickets by authorized officials. If there are staffing issues that prevent accomplishing this, than another alternative should be found that directly enforces this problem with legal tickets to the violators. This is a direct and serious safety issue, and citizens are using radar guns thinking it is "fun"? I am betting that a high percentage of the violators live close by or near the neighborhood itself. There was a comment about neighbors getting warnings, be interesting to see how this will play out when it happens. Also wonder if the warnings will be publicly posted in the News Press just like the parking tickets and other citations. I can't wait for the "neighbor wars" to start over this. Radar Gunslinging, could be a catchy name for the program. Wild wild west 21st century style.

This is wrong on so many levels...

What's wrong on so many levels is that kids are getting ran over at Deer Park.

I think the comment about people thinking they, "own the streets" was a bit cynical. Those people DO own those streets in a sense. They have started a community and showed dedication by buying property there (new Deer Park).

We used to live in a world where kids could set up basketball hoops in the street and cars would allow them to move before driving through. Street hockey, stickball with tennis balls, etc.

Again, I don't know exactly what to think about this program but I know something needs done. We're not talking about the Belt Highway or 169. We're talking about neighborhood streets.

You don't see kids getting ran over at Willshire Place or Twelve Oaks so why should it happen in Deer Park or other places? I bet if it did happen out there something would be done immediately though. Take that for what it's worth.

i dont see kids running rampant in the streets when I drive through 12 oaks

My question is this, why are the streets being used for basketball, hockey, and recreational activities? Streets are not designed for this, they are for motor vehicle traffic. In many cities, believe it or not this is a citable infraction with ordinances. I used to write citations for exactly this in another city. While there needs to be deterence for speeders, drivers should be following the limit, the streets also should not be used for recreation purposes. In my view, if there are issues here, than there should be enforcement that involves citations and that is not the job of private citizens. And per the comment about children being hit, if there were any that have been hit in this Deer Park area, than how come the enforcement is not already there?

Damn wish I was a code person here in this city, and there were actually ordinances for basketball nets, hockey goals, etc. I had authority to write warnings and cite for. We forget, streets are for cars and the public has every right to have the street clear when driving with the exception of pedestrian crossing. As for drivers, simple, stay the speed limit, why is that so hard?