The Seymour Police Department is receiving speed enforcement devices from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.

The department will have five dash-mounted RADAR systems that may be used while patrol vehicles are moving or stopped and can measure traffic speeds in the same and opposing directions. It also will have one handheld LIDAR device to help officers spot speeding drivers through several lanes of traffic or obstructions such as trees and bushes.

The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute is distributing 1,000 new RADAR and LIDAR devices among 162 state and local police agencies. The units are being purchased with $1.6 million in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration funds.

Federal grants administered by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute’s Traffic Safety Division fund training, equipment and overtime enforcement of Indiana traffic laws to reduce roadway crashes, injuries and deaths.

In less than two years, the organization has distributed 2,600 portable breath tests among 150 police agencies to evaluate alcohol impairment in drivers and Android tablets and an app to the more than 230 police officers highly trained in recognizing drugged drivers, according to a news release from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.

Speeding statistics in the Indiana Crash Facts publications published by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and Indiana University Public Policy Institute show nearly 29,000 people were in speed-related crashes on Indiana roads in 2017, resulting in 207 deaths and 6,428 non-fatal injuries.

Speed-related violations such as following too closely and unsafe lane movement also are among the top causes of Indiana crashes. Young drivers, particularly young men, are more likely to be speeding before a crash, according to the news release.