That Coquitlam RCMP officer you see holding a radar gun may be a poster-board cutout

On Tuesday, Coquitlam RCMP welcomed Const. Scarecrow, who police say will be part of a new plan to crack down on speeding drivers.

Const. Scarecrow, if you haven’t guessed, is a metal poster-board cutout of a police officer holding a radar gun that will be placed across the city.

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Police hope most drivers won’t notice Const. Scarecrow isn’t a real officer and a two-dimensional image of a police officer may be enough to encourage drivers to slow down.

Driver behaviour will be monitored by high-tech devices that will be installed wherever Const. Scarecrow is on patrol.

That data will be collected and crunched to determine if the initiative is working.

Costing $500 apiece, police hope the cutouts will be a cost-effective way to improve road safety and save lives.

— With files from Sarah MacDonald