Keep your eyes on the road, because there's a new Port Moody police officer that's always watching you.
And the local department (PMPD) is warning the public he's very much dedicated to his new position and won't be taking any breaks, sick hours or vacation days.
Sgt. Slowdown has been deployed to the PMPD and was sent out on his first "one-dimensional" assignment Wednesday morning (Aug. 10) to track down speedsters in several areas of the city.
Now, of course, Sgt. Slowdown — as realistic as he appears — is a cut-out of a officer holding and peering through a speed radar gun as if he's looking for commuters that might be too over-zealous with the accelerator.
And he'll always have a partner with him, too.
In an interview with the Tri-City News, PMPD spokesperson Const. Sam Zacharias says Sgt. Slowdown will be joined by "real traffic officers conducting enforcement, to prevent motorists from becoming complacent to the effigy."
His recruitment is in response to several speeding cases in Port Moody as summer typically brings out lead-footed drivers compared to other seasons.
According to Zacharias, nearly 110 violation tickets were handed out by the department between June 1 and July 31 this year — an increase of 22 per cent from almost 90 that were handed out during the same period in 2021.
Fines for speeding range between $138 and $483, under the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act.
Zacharias adds he hopes Sgt. Slowdown's deployment, which has already included arteries like Clarke Road, Barnet Highway and David Avenue, can lower those number can encourage the public to obey posted speed limits.
"Our partners at Coquitlam RCMP have had previous success in launching their very own Officer Scarecrow several years ago and now we are following suit," he says.
"There is certainly room to expand the program as time progresses — adding more areas for the cut-out to be deployed to."
The initiative is a collaboration between the PMPD and the City of Port Moody's engineering and operations department.
