Const. Scarecrow on a mission to slow down speeders
Const. Scarecrow is reporting for duty on Ottawa's roads. He works for next to nothing. He doesn't take breaks. And for a cardboard cut-out, he's remarkably skilled at getting speeders to take their foot off the gas.
Ottawa police are calling the life-size, two dimensional image of a yellow-jacketed traffic officer pointing a speed gun a "deterrent measure."
His first assignment is at Portobello Boulevard and Charest Way in Orléans, a school zone, where police say a dismal 16 per cent of motorists observe the posted speed limit of 40 km/h.
Const. Luc Mongeon posed for the image used to make the scarecrow.
"I do a lot of enforcement in the City of Ottawa," the real Mongeon said. "I give a lot of speeding tickets. My face is seen a lot on roadways."
On the move
Mongeon believes the scarecrow is so realistic motorists won't be able to tell the difference. And just to keep them on their toes, Const. Scarecrow will constantly be on the move.
"It shows that a police officer can be anywhere doing enforcement — could be here today, could be somewhere else the next day."
Const. Scarecrow will stay where he is for 30 days, police said. A second cut-out will initially be placed along Bridge Street in Manotick.
But Mongeon has another trick up his sleeve.
"Once the sign leaves here, I will return here physically and I will stand nearby the location and do my job," he said.
According to police, a similar pilot project last year in Coquitlam, B.C., resulted in a significant reduction in speeding. Each scarecrow costs about $165 and is both tamper-resistant and waterproof, police said.
