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Driffield Today, 19 September 2007
IMAGINE a village bobby who never needs to take a break and never goes off duty. He does not need to lift a finger but he could deter criminals from breaking law just by being there.
An idea to dress up scarecrows to look like policemen has been put forward and has been approved by Driffield police sergeant, Dave Jenkins.
If the idea takes off, Driffield and its surrounding villages could be welcoming a whole host of new residents standing in front gardens or peering out of upstairs windows.
Chris Gatenby, of Rudston Parish Council, put forward the idea at a meeting of the Driffield Police and Partners Community Forum on Monday evening.
She suggested it could be effective in stopping drivers from speeding through villages or even as way of protecting people's homes.
She said: "I saw it in a paper about a village which noticed a drop in crime throughout their scarecrow festival."
Then she asked Sgt Jenkins: "Would you have any objections to people doing that here?"
Sgt Jenkins said the idea was sound but people should be aware that the ploy would be effective only for a limited time.
He said: "I am open to all ideas and suggestions. Something like this started in the USA where they had cut-outs of police cars. Like many things it works, but only for so long.
"When I go out with the speed gun after 30 minutes I might as well not be there because every driver has flashed each other to warn them."
The suggestion was made after representatives from Driffield and many of the surrounding villages, including Wansford, Garton-on-the-Wolds, Kilham and Gransmoor, complained at the meeting about the large number of drivers who break the speed limit.
Concerns were raised that speed limits were routinely broken in a dangerous manner and that in some places the speed limit was too high, such as in Gransmoor.
Other speeding hotspots that were mentioned by members of the public were Westgate, Exchange Street, Newland Avenue and St John's Road in Driffield.
A Driffield resident said at the meeting: "Driffield is like the Wild West for car drivers and it is not all young lads doing it. I think some areas should have a 20mph limit. People go thundering down the street and nothing ever seems to get done about it. It feels as though the road belongs to the speeding motorist."
Chair of the meeting, East Riding councillor, Symon Fraser, told the meeting that speeding would be made a priority topic at the next meeting of the Neighbourhood Action Team.
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