The 250 mannequin cops, placed to jitter the motorists, have proved to be a great success. Without moving a finger, these dummies are a puzzle for motorists having the purpose to violate the rules. It has become so popular that it brought the attention of the Paris police as they look very much inspired to use this approach in their territories.
Driving attention of the Paris police
With the khaki and white uniforms of the traffic police, with reflective jackets, boots, and sunglasses, the life-size mannequins is a true brainchild of Bengaluru’s chief police officer, Bhaskar Rao. The idea struck into his mind when he found a scarecrow in a rice field on the outskirts of Bengaluru. It gave him the idea of getting dolls to replace the traffic police in the city. According to his postulation, if scarecrows could be used adequately to scare away birds and other animals that destroy crops, why not use a mannequin to control traffic?
The 250 mannequins clothed as traffic policemen are a great benefit, tells the city’s head traffic police officers. The idea has provoked restlessness among the motorists who can violate the rules. It has become so popular that a team of officials from the Paris police department met Bhaskar Rao. The team visited last week and enquired about the outcomes of placing mannequins. “They have taken the details and may introduce the measure in Paris too,” said Rao.
More and better mannequins required
Bengaluru has about 600 traffic intersections in which 380 have traffic signs, the rest are staffed by traffic police. The city is home to 44 traffic police stations and around 4,500 traffic police representatives. Each day, about five mannequins are allotted to each station. A single dummy costs between Rs 4,000 and Rs 6,000.
The population of vehicles in the city is expected to reach 1 crore in 2022, and by then the traffic police will face the problem of labor and police representatives. “We need more staff to handle the increasing traffic and we decided to place dummies at busy crossings. Since they look like real traffic cops, motorists queue in their presence, ” Rao said.
He also informed that the department is planning to place the mannequins with cameras so they can capture images of the offenders and allow remote monitoring of the traffic situation from the control room.
Joint Police Commissioner (Traffic) BR Ravikanthe Gowda said the mannequins are getting a great response from the public. “A couple of software engineers welcomed us and said that dummies should be used to handle traffic signals. In doing so, the police can pay attention to other aspects, such as eliminating traffic congestion, ”said Gowda.
