Starting within the next two weeks, the Lafayette Police Department will have on-foot officers armed with laser radar guns stationed around the square. They’ll be on the lookout for speeders and jaywalkers.

The crackdown is a direct result of complaints from business owners located around or near the square, Dallas said.

The complaints were brought to Lafayette Police Chief Jerry Dallas’ attention by City Attorney Jon Wells.

“I told him I would start putting officers on foot on the square,” Dallas said. “We have two laser radar guns. Laser radar picks out each individual car and will tell you exactly which one and how fast each one is going.”

In other words, if laser radar says you were speeding, then you were.

“The laser shoots out a very, very, very narrow beam,” Dallas said. “It only hits one moving vehicle at a time. You can pick out each vehicle and their individual speeds.”

Laser radar is “extremely accurate,” Dallas said.

“For every speeder it’s re-calibrated to make sure that it is working properly,” said Dallas, who added that LPD already had laser radars prior to the complaints from business owners.

In addition to watching for speeders, the on-foot officers also “will be watching the crosswalks, making sure that vehicles do stop for pedestrians,” Dallas said.

Dallas said he told Wells that if LPD starts working motor traffic it will also need to enforce pedestrian traffic as well.

“It’s a public safety move that has started from the complaints that I have received from City Attorney Jon Wells,” Dallas said.