WRAL On-Time Traffic reporter Mark Roberts received dozens of e-mail complaints from drivers who believe what the Police Department did was entrapment.
As part of "Operation Slingshot," officers used an abandoned truck with a officer running radar inside of it to catch speeders near the Glenwood Avenue exit.
The truck and spotter sat next to the median barrier on the outer beltline near Lake Boone Trail. The speed clocked by the radar gun was then relayed to the rest of the team, which was sitting on the ramp to the inner beltline.
Fifty drivers were ticketed for speeding over the three-hour operation.
Defense attorney Lee Turner, who defends traffic cases and is a former Raleigh police officer, said the complaints are unwarranted and the Police Department did nothing illegal.
"The police aren't putting the idea into the mind of that person that they should go speeding down the beltline. They are just using clever techniques to catch these speeders in an area where it's very difficult to actually catch them at most times of the day," Turner said. "As far as entrapment, there's no issue there. Police are allowed to use whatever methods as long as they are constitutional."
Raleigh police and the district attorney defended the effort as well.
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