Texas sheriff enlists the help of cardboard cops to try and slow down speeders
Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody is testing out the effectiveness of cardboard crime fighters by stacking them in school zones.
The long arm of the law in one Texas county is now apparently quite thin, too.
The Williamson County Sheriff's Office, in a bid to tamp down on speeders, recently deployed it's "new deputy" -- a cardboard cutout.
”It’s a creative way to solve a problem without really working the problem,” Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody told FOX7.
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The cutout, which is based on a photo of an actual deputy pointing a radar gun, is one of several the sheriff plans to deploy at various problem areas across the county, which is located north of Austin.
The Williamson County Sheriff's Office is deploying cardboard cutout officers to crack down on speeders. (FOX7)
Up close it's obvious the deputy isn’t real -- but it's not quite so apparent when you're flying through an intersection, comfortably sitting above the speed limit.
“When you're going 20, 30 miles per hour and you see the silhouette you're immediately braking, slowing down and that's exactly what we are trying to do,” Chody said.
The department now is testing out how effective the paper-based police officer is in school zones.
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Masa Abe, who lives near a school zone, told WXAN he thought the idea was funny at first, however, he later said he was able to see some benefits.
"From a distance, you can't really tell the difference until you get closer," he told WXAN.
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The cardboard cutouts will sometimes be paired with a real deputy and other times stand on their own, something Chody says will keep people "somewhat guessing."
“Slow down because you never know if it's the real deal or not," he said. "And the only way you'll know is if you meet deputy Wolf. And not the cutout -- but the real deputy."
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