As drivers approach many hit the brakes to slow down at the sight of a Little Elm Police car sitting alongside Eldorado Parkway, but as they get closer their looks of worry change to confusion when they realize behind the wheel sits a dummy.
Officers say that's another victory for "Officer Stache."
Stache is a CPR mannequin with a big, bushy mustache dressed in a Little Elm police shirt and hat that the department has started using as their newest tool to curb speeding in the growing community.
Officers have placed the mannequin in the driver's seat of an old, now out of service police SUV.
Assistant Chief Greg Wilkerson and his team then place the car alongside roads throughout town to appear to drivers as a police officer watching for speeders to pull over.
"We're trying to move him every day, to try to achieve voluntary compliance in lieu of a citation,"" said Wilkerson Thursday as officers placed Stache along the popular, often speeded on, Eldorado Parkway.
In other words, Wilkerson said they want to get drivers paying better attention to the roads and the speed limits by being reminded officers are watching, he said, so they hopefully don't have to issue as many tickets.
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The department first launched the program last month, placing Stache in Little Elm's most prominent speed zone: Highway 380.
During an 11 day period, Wilkerson said the department only had to deal with one, serious, reportable crash on the stretch that sometimes sees multiple daily.
Since then the "dummy" officer has gotten a lot of buzz on the department's and town's Facebook pages. Some drivers posted pictures posing next to the car and praised the idea, while others questioned if it will be effective or if it was an excuse to not have officers patrolling the area where Stache is parked.
Wilkerson said though, it's quite the opposite.
He said Stache is an additional tool for the department and officers continue to patrol those zones, and pull people over for speeding if they don't take the hint.
"What we hope is that the citizens will always be guessing is it Stache or is it a real officer inside that vehicle?" he said.
While they haven't been running the program long enough to say for sure, Wilkerson believes Stache is proving a success so far.
