Spooking speeders: Prairie city latest to use police cutouts on busy roads

LLOYDMINSTER, Alta. — Some new scarecrows are popping up on the Prairies, but these aren’t meant for bluffing birds.

Life-size metal cutouts of uniformed Mounties are being placed next to busy roads and intersections in Lloydminster, a city straddling the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary.

The city says the fake officers are part of a pilot “scarecrow initiative” aimed at discouraging speeders.

It’s modelled on a similar project that started last year in Coquitlam, B.C.

RCMP in that community said that within six months of introducing their police scarecrows, the number of drivers caught speeding by more than 10 kilometres per hour decreased by half.

Glenn Alford with the City of Lloydminster says each cutout costs about $325 — a fraction of what it would cost to have a real officer monitor the locations.

“The new recruits aren’t much for conversation, but they have proven highly effective in their duties with other municipalities,” he said. “We expect this program will have positive results here in Lloydminster.”

The Canadian Press