Idaho Police Could Start Warning Speeders With Cardboard Cutouts
This is catching on everywhere, and we think we'll be seeing more of it in 2019. Fake police officers like "Constable Scarecrow," that are cardboard cutouts made to look like real officers with radar guns. Will it work in the Treasure Valley?
We've seen this happen in Canada and other places over the past couple of years, and police across the US are starting to increase the use of them. Think we'll see more cardboard police officers in Idaho?
The Williamson County Sheriff's office in Texas is putting cardboard cutouts of deputies next to roads that typically have the most speeders to encourage them to slow down. They're using images of the department's real-life deputies, prop them up on the side of the road, and set them up to point radar devices at cars passing by.
Does it work? Sometimes. Of course, the concern for deputies is that the effectiveness will fade over time, once drivers get savvy to the fact that it's an inanimate police officer pointing the speed-measuring device at them instead of the real thing. As a driver, it can even be sort of embarrassing to hit the brakes and then realize you were tricked by an impostor. If you ever let the lead foot get the best of you, that is. Maybe you're always under the speed limit and have nothing to worry about.
We'll watch for the cardboard cutout officers in the Treasure Valley and see if this catches on in 2019. If you see one, let us know! It's all in the name of safety, and that's not a bad thing.