Okay. So you get pulled over for speeding or failing to signal or some damn thing. As the police car pulls over to the shoulder behind your stopped car, the officer within gets out and is … green and fuzzy. No Who pudding for you!
Chief, you want me to do what? Go fuck yourself.
Loach, maybe you can recommend this to your superiors. But instead of Christmas themed you could get all NJ and dress up as people who’ve had turnpike rest stops named after them (Clara Barton, John Fenwick, Walt Whitman, James Fenimore Cooper, Richard Stockton, Woodrow Wilson, Molly Pitcher, Joyce Kilmer, Thomas Edison, Grover Cleveland, Alexander Hamilton and Vince Lombardi, per Wiki). What do you think?
The photos are hilarious. I love the look on the poor bastard’s face who has to be Max in the second photo…the expression on his face reminds me of all the pathetic looks Max gives the camera in the cartoon. They’re both probably thinking the same thing- “why did I have to come along to help this idiot?”
I like the fact that they’re apparently going to continue using costumes throughout December. I can just imagine the consequences. “Sorry I’m late, honey. The Grinch pulled me over.” “Sure. Last week you say an elf pulled you over and now it’s the Grinch. I swear, next week if you tell me George Bailey pulled you over and then tried to jump off a bridge, I’m hiding the eggnog.”
I’m sure everyone pulled over would get the reference. “Hey Walt Whitman gave me a ticket!”
OK, I get Who, What, Where and When. I even get How (apparently, makeup done by Universal). What I don’t get is Why.
Seriously, why? Public relations? I don’t think that’s improved much by getting a ticket, period. Disguises? Seems like they’re pretty recognizable now!
I’ve been ticketed by Grover Cleveland on two non-consecutive occasions.
I hate you, Walt freakin’ Whitman! Leaves of Grass my ass!
“I think that I shall never see, a poem as lovely as a tree. We killed a few of them so I could give you this ticket.”
Maybe they’re under the impression that being ticketed in a Grinch costume would bemuse – or at least confuse – the offender enough that they won’t have the presence of mind to complain too much.
Or maybe it’s a more humiliating alternative to desk duty for naughty officers.
I have a feeling it has more to do with publicity. Believe it or not traffic enforcement is not about making money for the government. (I won’t pretend that it doesn’t happen, depending on where you are.) Many in the traffic enforcement field do believe that strict enforcement saves lives. For this to be effective the public has to be aware of the enforcement so they will purposely slow down and be more careful. Having an officer in a grinch costume on the evening news is one way to do it.
I can certainly see how that would help. Absurdity in a public situation where traditionally there is none is a good way to attract media attention.
I, however, don’t think I would want to be either of those two officers come the new year. I suspect the division locker room atmosphere will disallow them from ever living down their new nicknames.
Could be worse. He/She could have a partner named ‘Max’.
…and some say his ticket quote grew Three Sizes that day. And with a radar-gun the strength of 12 grinch radar-guns, plus two, he cooked the bad speeder. Into Goo.
Officer Grinch did have a Max partner, based on the photos. Probably wasn’t really named “Max,” though.
It would be tempting, if pulled over by the Grinch, to give one’s name as “Amy Lou Who” and one’s addy as the _# cottage in Whoville.
I can appreciate the PD’s intent, though. I hate driving this time of year especially, as people are carooming around like homicidal maniacs. (And the most hyper-aggressive of them are almost invariably driving SUVs or trucks.)
…that was CindyLou Who, I think…
The down side for the cops is that these tickets are more defensible than those where a single cop runs the radar and writes the ticket. Gives you a few more options in negotiating a reduced charge, and a better shot at trial. Odds are you’d still get convicted, though. Traffic tickets are hard to beat if the cops show up–and here the state needs at least 2 to testify. The radar operator can’t testify that Defendant was driving the car, and the ticket writer can’t testify as to how fast Defendant was going.
No, he has an antler on his head. Cindy Lou doesn’t have dog ears, either.
I got pulled over for speeding by Clara Barton. " Jesus Christ, woman, what do I have to do, give blood"?
I couldn’t get a good look at the officer’s full face who was made up as the Grinch. Could it be that the officer really didn’t want to be photographed like that?