Some police departments are so concerned about radar-related cancer that they have banned the use of handheld radar. Other departments using two-piece radar models require the antenna to be mounted outside the patrol car, while still other departments have abandoned radar altogether and use speed lasers as a safer alternative. Despite studies claiming to document the harmful effects of police radar on health, a typical traffic radar's 15 milliwatt output is miniscule in comparison to a microwave oven's 600 milliwatt output, some 40,000 times more powerful. Further, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), health risks from long-term exposure to electromagnetic radiation have not been demonstrated, and OSHA has not identified a clear risk associated with traffic radar operation. Even if a person using traffic radar placed the antenna against his or her body, most of the energy would tend to go right back into the generator (radar antenna) instead of penetrating the person's body. It is concluded that traffic radar poses no health risks to police officers and that the myth of radar cancer should be dispelled. 2 photographs