CrimeBeat Q&A: Are speeds on California highways enforced by aircraft?

CrimeBeat Q&A is a weekly feature where police reporter Julie Johnson answers readers' questions about local crimes and the law.

Are those “Speed enforced by aircraft” signs decoys or are state officers actually tracking speeders from the air?

Believe the signs.

CHP aircraft are in the air each day with crews on the lookout for reckless driving behaviors such as unsafe shoulder passes, crossing the double lines and DUI drivers, CHP flight officer and paramedic Shaun Bouyea said.

Bouyea is a member of the Golden Gate Division Air Operations Unit based at the Napa County Airport. They fly seven days a week, 365 days a year, weather permitting, and are typically in the air at least five hours a day.

The division covers an area from Santa Cruz to Ukiah. Teams of a pilot and a flight officer staff two planes, a GippsAero GA 8 Airvan and a Cessna 206, and two Airbus H125 “AStar” helicopters.

It's a four-minute flight from Napa to Sonoma County, Bouyea said.

“We do patrol Sonoma County a lot because it's so close to us,” Bouyea said. “Motorcycles in the summer tend to be a problem with reckless driving.”

The air crews radio information about reckless drivers to officers in patrol cars. It's the ground officers who issue tickets. Highway 37 is a hot spot for enforcement because drivers try to pass on the shoulders, according to Bouyea.

Speed enforcement used to be a bigger priority for the air crews when officers had limited tools for calculating how fast drivers were traveling. Now devices using laser technology called lidar, a term blending the words light and radar, make it easy for an officer in a patrol car to track a car's speed.

The air patrols are more likely to be called to help track fleeing drivers, assist with rescues and patrol for the riskiest driving.

“When drivers see the sign they should obey the law because there could be someone looking at you from the air or on the ground - follow the laws,” Bouyea said. “We just want you to get to a location safely.”

Submit your questions about crime, safety and criminal justice to Staff Writer Julie Johnson at julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.