That Cop is a Dummy

[ethics]

While <a href="http://www.globalaffairs.org/forum/showthread.php?t=31987">red light cameras and speed cameras are increasingly getting a bad name</a> in dealing with traffic problems, it looks like some police departments are experimenting with somewhat different methods to dealing with speeders.

Near PA, it's pretty common to see police cars parked at intersections with dummies in them. The idea, of course, is that people see the car, and react, hopefully without realizing there's just a plastic dummy inside.

Still, this is only effective at that particular intersection, and once people learn about the dummies, they tend to discount them pretty quickly. How to deal with this disensitization?

One small police department are putting <a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Police%20Decoys">non-police volunteers into police cars to drive around</a> -- at the speed limit of course.

When police cars are driving at the speed limit, everyone goes the speed limit (or below). The volunteers can't write anyone a ticket, but can radio for help and (the article notes, as if you need to be in a police car to do this) write down license numbers. Apparently, other police departments are considering similar programs.

Of course, the bigger this gets, the more likely someone is going to abuse the impression that they're a police officer to do something bad. Already, there are stories of scammers and criminals who pretend to be police officers. This makes it even easier for those people to appear legitimate.

Btw, this has been done in Staten Island by using Auxies. Not sure how effective this was though.

[Frodo Lives]

If this became available in my area I would volunteer in a minute. I hate speeders. With a Passion.

When I worked for Jay Peak Ski Resort (during the summer) I had a used police cruiser. The security officer noticed a drastic decrees in the number of speeders on the driveway to the resort since I started. So he paid me $30 a week to just park my car at the entrance. Worked like a charm. :)

[cdw]

They use dummies down here in Florida. No, not the cops, rofl, but real dummies as mentioned in the article. They also have a volunteer police force...citizens patrol, not just for speeders but for everything...to have some sort of presence in the area to deter bad doers. They have no power either but can radio into the sherrifs. It works pretty well and keeps the costs down from what I understand.
Actually, when I lived in Boca (I haven't seen them up here) there was often a citizen's patrol involved in things that were going down to eleviate (sp?) tensions...some of them were specially trained for such things.

[Copzilla]

I dunno... Seems like the government is always looking for a way to get policing for free. From dummies to automated red light ticket machines to volunteer citizens, the one thing that is eliminated is the police officer. Why not just hire the cops you need to police the city?

[SixofNine]

From dummies to automated red light ticket machines to volunteer citizens, the one thing that is eliminated is the police officer. Why not just hire the cops you need to police the city?

Excellent point. What I like to see is civilians taking over full-time desk jobs, dispatching, etc. to free up sworn personnel to do police work.

I haven't looked up the numbers recently, but that was a knock against the D.C. police department - one of the highest number of police per capita in the nation for a large metropolitan area, but many of them were in desk jobs.

Brian

[ethics]

Brilliant.

Actually, that's exactly what Rudy did in NYC and wow, what a difference.

[Copzilla]

Excellent point. What I like to see is civilians taking over full-time desk jobs, dispatching, etc. to free up sworn personnel to do police work.

I haven't looked up the numbers recently, but that was a knock against the D.C. police department - one of the highest number of police per capita in the nation for a large metropolitan area, but many of them were in desk jobs.

I couldn't agree more. Our agency is all eaten up with that kind of stuff too, and the one thing that suffers is grass-roots police work. This phenomenon is usually due to incompetence of police management. Any menial task that comes up, well, you have a labor force to draw upon, all at your beck and call. I could tell you some horror stories of ridiculous assignments, all to satisfy some political bullshit, and reduction of police effectiveness from the overall mission of fighting crime, but it could take all day...

Cops are -Law- -Enforcement-. To enforce laws. To take laws that are enacted by legislatures and enforce them, seek violators out, apprehend them and take them before a judge and jury. If cops are doing anything other than this, it is a deviation from the basic, core mission.

[Piobaireachd]

Our little podunk police department sets up those speed displays to let you know how fast you're going. Someone stole it last year while it was parked on the street.

[Steve]

I can tell you one thing that would be more effective for enforcing speed limits: don't put the speed traps in the same places, over and over again. In this area, the police at both the local and state levels always park in the same spots and the drivers know where they are. I haven't seen a speed trap in a new location in 10 years.

[Piobaireachd]

I can tell you one thing that would be more effective for enforcing speed limits: don't put the speed traps in the same places, over and over again. In this area, the police at both the local and state levels always park in the same spots and the drivers know where they are. I haven't seen a speed trap in a new location in 10 years.

And most of them are fairly well documented: http://www.speedtrap.org/

[ethics]

Good site, certainly a very well known one <a href="http://www.speedtrap.org/speedtraps/comments.asp?state=NY&city=Brooklyn,%20Staten%20Island&st=14291">here</a>, but they don't mention the one on Ocean Avenue.

[BigDeputyDog]

Near PA, it's pretty common to see police cars parked at intersections with dummies in them. From what I have been told, this same thing can be observed in Houston too... or is it just CopZ and Sarge drinking coffee together?? ;)
I dunno... Seems like the government is always looking for a way to get policing for free. From dummies to automated red light ticket machines to volunteer citizens, the one thing that is eliminated is the police officer. Why not just hire the cops you need to police the city?Hiring the police officers is too expensive... :rolleyes: Here in my jurisdiction, they've been using reserve officers for many of the police duties. Reserve officers here have the same police powers but are paid nothing. The city sees it as getting something for nothing and we see it as one more way we get screwed out of getting paid (or more merit police officers)...
What I like to see is civilians taking over full-time desk jobs, dispatching, etc. to free up sworn personnel to do police work. Many of the "police functions" on our department has been civilianized. Dispatchers are all civilian, our records room is all civilian, the property room and arsenal are civilian... Even the task of parking enforcement has been taken away from the 3-wheelers and has been privatized. Our accident takers (as opposed to investigators... you know what I mean, CopZ ;) ..) are now civilians except when it comes to possible or fatal accidents.

One problem that comes with civilianizing these positions is loss of integrity and confidentiality controls. More than once a civilian working a sensitive position (records, for example) has "leaked" information on warrants / records to unauthorized individuals (i.e. warning their relative that a warrant has been issued for their arrest). We didn't have this problem when it was only sworn officers doing the job...

BDD...

[Plunge]

Good site, certainly a very well known one here (http://www.speedtrap.org/speedtraps/comments.asp?state=NY&city=Brooklyn,%20Staten%20Island&st=14291), but they don't mention the one on Ocean Avenue.

Well maybe you should submit it. I've sent them more than one. :)

[cmhbob]

There was a thread on BBR quite a while back about a city that was giving radar guns to a crime-watch type group, and letting them write down license plates of people who they saw and recorded speeding. Many on BBR were very up in arms about it, but the CW group didn't confront anyone, and all the speeders got was a warning letter, so I saw it as a win-win, really.

[ShinyTop]

I lived in Gulf Breeze, FL for ten years. A big part of their problem is Highway 98, going through the city. You also have to go through the city to go anywhere down the coast or to the Beach. I loved living in Gulf Breeze, it is a great community to raise children if you stay in the city and off the highway.

Why did I move? Because ten years ago they were debating where to build a new bridge. One of the choices up for consideration would have bypassed Gulf Breeze for all but Gulf Breeze traffic and Pensacola Beach traffic. Instead they built a new bridge from nowhere to nowhere. That is when I moved to town, I did not want to fight the traffic over the bridge any longer.

The new bridge was anchored on both sides on land owned by local politicians or their families. It was claimed that the bridge would pay for itself in no time. They have raised the toll to $3 per trip and it is still not paying for itself. In the meantime all the housing down the peninsula has to go through Gulf Breeze and right by 3 schools. So the people from down the road don't want to slow down to the 35 MPH speed limit.

The point of this, just like so many local communities, everybody in three counties knows what a boondoggle and scam this bridge was and nobody has done a damn thing. The traffic problems in Gulf Breeze stem from that, to a large degree. The city also has a small tax base so cannot or does not pay its police much compared to the larger county and city police forces so they do not get the best qualified.

Just a little insight from somebody who lived with the problems in Gulf Breeze for many years.