A police officer in San Francisco, California, is wearing a silly costume to try and catch drivers blowing through crosswalks.
Lt. Jonathan Ozol put on an inflatable chicken outfit on Monday as he stood on Alemany Boulevard near an intersection while trying to ticket drivers who failed to yield to pedestrians, SF Gate reported.
An image shows the officer cautiously making his way across the street:
Despite his funny costume, several drivers did not stop for him to cross the road.
According to Capt. Amy Hurwitz, the exercise is one of five the agency has performed in the past six months. The city is trying to ensure that drivers are watching and doing the right thing when they approach a crosswalk.
“State law requires drivers to stop for pedestrians who are entering a crosswalk. Ozol said that failing to do so can result in a citation that could cost the driver a hefty fine of as much as $400,” the outlet said.
A video clip shows Ozol trying to cross the street while wearing the chicken outfit. A red car zooms past him, but it appears that an officer riding a motorcycle pursues the vehicle moments later.
“The chicken exercise does not come unwarranted. In February, a 76-year-old man was struck and killed by a driver at the very crosswalk that police were monitoring on Monday,” the Gate report noted, adding that officers have pulled over numerous drivers as a result of the costume stunt.
City leaders in San Francisco worked to install 400 license plate readers across the area to hit back against crime, Breitbart News reported in March.
“San Francisco’s Chief of Police Bill Scott said it will help officers catch alleged criminals and address homicides, robberies, assaults, car break-ins, and other crimes,” the article noted.
It is important to note that San Francisco voters passed ballot measures in March, and one of them was to expand police powers, Breitbart News reported at the time.
“Voters reacted to a wave of crime in the city, which began even before the Black Lives Matter movement had attacked police and led to brief attempts to ‘defund’ local law enforcement,” the outlet said.
