The Smyrna, TN Police Department has made cardboard cutouts of their police officers and will be moving them around town in an effort to slow motorists on city streets.

This reminds me of a story from England I heard about last fall. Large cardboard cutouts of police officers were used in department stores to deter shoplifting. The faux police were actually MORE effective in reducing losses to shoplifting than the actual cop — that is, until the cutout was stolen.

They ARE going to slow motorists down somewhat. It’s just human nature to step on the brakes when a cop is spotted, or a speed sign displays your speed that’s over the limit. But, I can only imagine how long these things are gonna last — after the paintball splats, the BB holes, the graffiti, etc. They cost about $205 to make!

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country

Does this picture remind you of another sign you may have seen?

I found this picture while looking around on Flicker. The photographer is somewhat of a traffic activist, much like me. On his Flicker site, there are numerous pictures showing illegally posted speed limits, confusing signage, non-official signs, etc. There are also plenty of pics of beautiful scenic roads as well. Very pretty area!

This pic is one that I just thought was funny! I guess it’s actually a warning to slow down for the construction area ahead; but, It’s probably more of a “bluff” than anything.

Do YOU have a picture showing confusing, illegal, funny, or just interesting signage? Email it to the Admin of this site, and include a short message about the pic.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.

Officer claims he was taken off patrols, and transferred for failing to show “courtesy”.

A state trooper said he was reassigned and demoted after he gave another trooper a speeding ticket and after he filed an internal complaint against two other troopers who allegedly brandished firearms while arresting an unarmed civilian.

Trooper Zigmund Paul Jendrzejewski filed a 17-page federal lawsuit in Johnstown targeting state police Commissioner Col. Jeffrey Miller and three other top officials.

Jendrzejewski’s attorney, Don Bailey, said his client has more than 20 years experience as a patrol officer. While the lawsuit is about the trooper’s specific situation, it shows there is a double standard for state police brass and troopers who break laws and regulations, Bailey said.

“It shows the nature of the disciplinary process of the state police, which is a clique to ensure the safety of superiors, including Miller himself, while the careers of law-abiding officers, like Jendrzejewski, are sacrificed,” Bailey told The Associated Press on Monday.

To that end, the suit also refers to an incident that doesn’t even involve Jendrzejewski. Bailey said he investigated the incident, which he called common knowledge among rank-and-file troopers statewide.

In that incident, Miller was riding in an unmarked car driven by deputy state police Commissioner Frank Pawlowski when a trooper stopped them for driving 88 mph on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on Nov. 6, 2007.

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Unmarked van may have been parked illegally for a year

Got a speeding ticket in Boulder lately? You might just catch a break.

Boulder police and city transportation officials are investigating the possibility that a photo-radar van was parked illegally when it snapped pictures of passing speeders — possibly hundreds of them.

Cmdr. Robert Thomas, who heads the traffic unit for the Boulder Police Department, said he’s looking into allegations that one of the city’s photo-radar units was operating in a clearly marked “no parking” and “tow-away” zone along Broadway, just north of Norwood Avenue in north Boulder.

Boulder resident Mac Fraser, 67, lives near the intersection and said he became concerned when the van started parking in a patch of public landscaping off the road where Broadway merges northbound drivers into a single lane at the crest of a small hill.

“Those that live out here know they either have to slow down or speed up past a car to get into that lane,” Fraser said. “It’s a great speed trap — that’s really all it is.”

Fraser said the van has been snapping pictures of drivers and license plates in the same spot as many as four times a week for more than a year.

“My wife and I actually call each other, and occasionally a friend, when we come down” Broadway, Fraser said. “We’ll just pick up the phone and say, ‘If you’re coming down, the van’s out.’”

After the Camera told Thomas about Fraser’s complaint earlier this week, the commander said he personally drove to the site and looked for himself.

“The citizen’s right,” Thomas said Friday. “You can’t have a van breaking the law and a citizen getting a ticket for breaking the law — that’s not right.”

But Thomas said it’s also not quite as simple as that.

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Illinois State Police have a warning for teen drivers: Slow down or expect a letter sent home to mom and dad.

Troopers in the Springfield district say they’re seeing more teens driving faster and getting into accidents. So they’re prepared to tell parents if their kids are pulled over for speeding. The reaction among teenagers is mixed with some saying they’d never tell parents they got a ticket. Other teens say they’d have to ask their parents to help pay the $75 fine, so they’d have to come forward.

State police say in the last few weeks they’ve pulled over teen drivers from Chatham and Springfield going as fast as 90 miles per hour on interstates. Last month four teens were killed on a rural Logan County road where speed is believed to be a factor. Teens say they know it’s not safe to drive fast, but it’s just now starting to sink in.

“I actually just got a speeding ticket, so it’s funny you ask me this. I didn’t realize the number one cause of fatality accidents is speeding I thought it was drunk driving,” said teen driver Rachel Wilson.

“Honestly it’s pretty easy for teenagers to get around telling their parents they’ve been stopped. A lot of the time, their parents will never know they’ve been stopped,” said Illinois State Police Trooper Christy Pullen.

State troopers say the letters will start going out April 1st, but only to parents in the Springfield area. So far the idea has not been expanded statewide, but a district in Northern Illinois is also trying out the idea.

There are some exceptions teens will have to be going 20 miles over the limit for a letter to ever be drafted.