The Wenatchee World
SOAP LAKE, Wash. -- Borrowing a page from the California Highway Patrol, Police Chief Scott J. Stokoe has turned to some real dummies to deter speeding.
The two newest “officers” in this arid central Washington town of about 1,730 are Annie and Arnie, former cardiopulmonary resuscitation training mannequins that sit in surplus patrol cars at the north and south entrances on Washington 17.
“They work cheap, and they don’t give me any back lip,” joked Police Chief Scott J. Stokoe.
As one measure of effectiveness, Stokoe said police now use radar more frequently in other areas but are making significantly fewer traffic stops in the middle of town than before the decoys were deployed.
Stokoe said he got the idea from a similar tactic in California, obtained the retired mannequins from the Fire Department, outfitted them with police uniforms and put them to work a few days before the Memorial Day weekend.
From the north the speed limit drops from 60 mph to 45 mph to 30 mph, but many motorists don’t hit the brakes until they see the decoy, said Toni Krause, manager of the Royal View Motel across Arnie’s stakeout.
Mid Kreider, owner of a drive-through espresso stand on the south end of town near Annie’s post, said she enjoyed watching motorists hit their brakes, not to mention those who stop to take pictures or approach the dummy cops to ask for directions.
Stokoe said locals quickly got wise, but Annie and Arnie are still effective with visitors.
“I noticed it sitting there and I slowed down,” said Mary Franklin, who was visiting her father.
Franklin works for the Spokane City Council and said she would suggest that police there use a similar decoy.