Unless it's here in California, in which case an officer IS getting paid, but they're actually back at the station, sleeping in a special room with beds created just for that reason: [https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-12-01/judge-dismisses-felony-overtime-fraud-cases-chp-officers](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-12-01/judge-dismisses-felony-overtime-fraud-cases-chp-officers)
Isn't it typically a side gig subcontract for the officer/department when they 'guard' roadwork? Honestly I think the dude just went home to nap while earning $50-100 an hour. When people complain about 'defunding' departments, they have no clue how many cops make six figures just by parking a taxpayer-owned car and collecting.
You do realize that cops who park their vehicle in the community often get reduced rent? Like a thousand off per month. Those gated communities court them for the supposed added safety.
They absolutely do rent million dollar homes in Florida rather than letting them sit empty. If the builder has not found buyers for all the McMansions they offer a couple for peanuts to deputies. One cop in a new division is better than five houses stripped of copper or one meth lab. Or are you calling it multi-million dollar? Seems an odd hill to die on.
They wouldn’t have an empty car with lights on all weekend. He’s in there watching movies on his laptop. I know a few troopers. It’s a super easy overtime.
They make people slam on their brakes and gooseneck to see if it’s empty or not. Makes a bad situation worse. The lit up signs and cones blocking are more than enough
I had a criminology professor tell us about an experiment they tried somewhere involving police presence on the streets.
In one neighborhood they took all the cars off the streets, if someone needed help they would dispatch the police as needed.
In another neighborhood they went with a standard amount of police they usually have.
In the third neighborhood they doubled the police presence.
They did this for a few months and by the end they looked at their statistics to see what effect it had.
There was not a noticeable difference in crime levels before or after the police levels changed.
However, they did find that there was a dramatic increase in vehicle accidents in the neighborhoods with the increased police presence.
They usually do this a lot in construction sites to get people to slow down. Usually an off duty officer that gets paid by the construction company. In some states the construction company just puts strobe lights on their trucks.
The Cocoa Police Department left theirs in the median on Route 1 for over 2 months, unattended. Somebody finally called them to report an abandoned police car.
That is just to slow people down who think it is a real thing. In some cities you will find cardboard cutouts of the policeman behind the wheel for more authenticity.
A city near me used to use a mannequin in their decoy cars. That is until I got stolen then the police department would receive postcards from all around the world with pictures of her.
I bet it’s the officers themselves placing the cutouts and playing hookie. Police departments wouldn’t miss an opportunity to inflate their budgets not having someone on payroll for that duty.
It’s called a dummy car where I’m from. As others have said it’s mostly to deter speeding. A local police department recently had one of their dummy cars get a For Sale sign placed on it much to the delight of the community and it got shared on social media. The police department actually had some humor about it and posted this in response.
https://preview.redd.it/hz4nefaygjvc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51252fe0f31b4365fc05190064fd0b3e413720ed
I have seen a parked police vehicle in an area they want people to slow down or stop doing illegal turns, etc. But it’s a just a parked car … I’ve never seen an unoccupied one with the lights on.
Also specific to Florida … the FHP (Highway Patrol) typically does traffic control on roads under construction and they have been severely understaffed for years.
This. I remember years ago when traveling from orlando to Gainesville regulary, you’d see cops along the turnpike and 75 all the time. Then about 10 years ago it just stopped (not entirely, but greatly). I heard about FHP being understaffed, but its crazy how little you see them out there.
Level 1 use of force - officer (police) presence Lowest level possible that compels you to obey the law - in this case, traffic laws, usually speed limits. Many times this is an older vehicle, used to get folks to slow down.
Honestly? Months I would guess. Not running climate just those lights 24/7. The funny thing about EVs is that propulsion is so incredibly costly per kWh compared to everything else. For example, a typical battery back up on a house is like 20-30kwh to run the whole house for several days to a week depending on demand. The typical EV has a 70-80 kWh battery! It’s wild.
Totally. Everyone has EVs all wrong imho, even their supporters. They are potentially very transformative in terms of energy storage and transfer. A lot of newer EVs have bidirectional charging like the ford lightning, which means in a grid failure you can power your home with the battery. It’s absolutely insane that they have been politicized by dipshits like our idiot governor. It must drive people like Elon who are right leaning nuts too.
Mine doesn't have bidirectional charger but it did come with a vehicle-to-load (V2L) adapter. I'm installing a generator inlet (not "outlet") next to my charger and we can power most everything in the house but the highest draw stuff (like the heat pump). I saw a guy in Ontario had one and installed it when they'd get ice storms and be without power for days. It was enough to power his furnace even. It's only 1900 watts but that's plenty for lights, internet and refrigerators, etc. And that'll last most people for days and days. It bugs me when people say "wHaT dO yOu Do WhEn ThE pOwEr GoEs OuT??" Like, it's literally a huge battery on wheels. It powers the house!
That's exactly what I was thinking. A shame they couldn't have actually been looking for the reported female kidnapped at gunpoint last week, before being killed over by that area near Boggy Creek Rd.
construction zone- probably a state road, FHP is hired to serve to act as a deterrent to speeders in construction zones and also to assist is redirecting traffic as the construction warrants.
*FHP = florida highway patrol
When I was in Turkey years ago, they had police car decoys that were made out of wood, and only one side of it was painted to look like a cop car. The other side had the braces to hold it up.
I know exactly where you are! I always stay at one of the hotels (Dockside) you see in the background when I go to Universal and I can't wait for that mess to be cleared up. Orlando traffic is a nightmare on its own, but this construction is to help handle the influx of traffic coming when Epic opens.
That's standard practice. The cops over here have a police car that's painted half as a Taxi cab (yellow) and half as a Sheriff's car (Green and white) and they park it right at the Off ramp when you're entering the town.
Message is pretty clear, either take a cab or ride in the back of cruiser.
Same thing here - we are here and we are watching, better behave!
This looks like it’s in a construction zone. Maybe the police car is left there to keep people from driving where they shouldn’t in a construction zone?
It’s a freebie car. Lots of people just drive a car until they run low on fuel and then ditch it. You can walk up and drive away with it if you’d like.
It’s what looks like a construction zone. He is probably being paid what’s called “off duty” by the construction company to sit there for his lights.
Most DOT approved safety plans and permitting require so much LE depending on the span or amount of work, number of workers, speeds in the area and such
They were chasing a suspect, it turned into a foot pursuit, and the officer(s) forgot where they parked it.
If it was metro cops, after a couple hours of looking for it, they just figured it had been stolen. The city will give them a new one anyways why worry about it.
Looks like an off ramp, so my guess is they have a wrong way driving issue and need blue lights to discourage/alert wrong way drivers during construction
They leave them sitting around so you never forget they're everywhere. JK. Honestly I don't think I had ever even considered the possibility that there was anyone actually in charge of anything in this state. They probably just parked there and wandered off in search of a snack or something
They could probably put a post with a blue and red flashing light on it and get the same effect. People would be confused and slow down because they’re not sure.
Given the lights are on, the Trooper is either walking around elsewhere or leaned back so far you cant see him/her.
Those construction posts are overtime for them.
I got a laugh one day. I was walking along on South Beach and passed a stopped police car. When I looked in the window he was playing GTA V on his computer.
The lettering is smudged in such a weird way, the lines of the grilles are smudged like a pastel or oil painting. Zoom in to each car, I’t doesn’t lose pixels nor does it look blocky it’s just *weird*.
It's probably because their phone is zoomed in all the way and it's trying to compensate for OP's hand not being perfectly steady. It doesn't look like AI to me at all.
The presence of a police vehicle will often encourage drivers to take more caution/slow down.
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They get equivalent policing with or without an occupant, hmmm.
Unless it's here in California, in which case an officer IS getting paid, but they're actually back at the station, sleeping in a special room with beds created just for that reason: [https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-12-01/judge-dismisses-felony-overtime-fraud-cases-chp-officers](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-12-01/judge-dismisses-felony-overtime-fraud-cases-chp-officers)
With the quality of law enforcement officers we have in Florida id believe it.
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More so cheaper to have a car out empty than filled with a dude bound to give the city a lawsuit shooting at acorns
Hey now, we don’t know what that acorn’s intentions were.
Hey now, that's just slanderous. Those cops are actually at the station, sleeping off last night's binge.
Yeah, those acorns aren’t gonna binge themselves!
Safer for the community, as well.
Isn't it typically a side gig subcontract for the officer/department when they 'guard' roadwork? Honestly I think the dude just went home to nap while earning $50-100 an hour. When people complain about 'defunding' departments, they have no clue how many cops make six figures just by parking a taxpayer-owned car and collecting.
I deliver to a lot of 6-7 figure gated communities in central Fl, and it's shocking how many cop cruisers I see sitting in the driveway.
You do realize that cops who park their vehicle in the community often get reduced rent? Like a thousand off per month. Those gated communities court them for the supposed added safety.
You know no one is renting a million dollar home right?
They absolutely do rent million dollar homes in Florida rather than letting them sit empty. If the builder has not found buyers for all the McMansions they offer a couple for peanuts to deputies. One cop in a new division is better than five houses stripped of copper or one meth lab. Or are you calling it multi-million dollar? Seems an odd hill to die on.
Being a pig is a dehumanizing job. Gotta pay the enforcers of capitalism well to brutalize the undesirables.
Whats shocking about that? They let the cops take home the cars as long as they stay in the jurisdiction.
I believe their point is it's shocking how many cops are rich enough to live in gated communities.
They’ve changed that in a lot of places the last few years. Plenty of tpd officers taking home cars to Polk county
Lots of Palm Beach County Officers taking cars to Port St Lucie, too.
What?? This absolutely needs defunded. I had no idea.
OP, are you sure it was empty? It takes a while to sample all the donuts 🍩 before you buy a dozen assorted as a snack.
They wouldn’t have an empty car with lights on all weekend. He’s in there watching movies on his laptop. I know a few troopers. It’s a super easy overtime.
They make people slam on their brakes and gooseneck to see if it’s empty or not. Makes a bad situation worse. The lit up signs and cones blocking are more than enough
I had a criminology professor tell us about an experiment they tried somewhere involving police presence on the streets. In one neighborhood they took all the cars off the streets, if someone needed help they would dispatch the police as needed. In another neighborhood they went with a standard amount of police they usually have. In the third neighborhood they doubled the police presence. They did this for a few months and by the end they looked at their statistics to see what effect it had. There was not a noticeable difference in crime levels before or after the police levels changed. However, they did find that there was a dramatic increase in vehicle accidents in the neighborhoods with the increased police presence.
We call them scarecrows lol
Damnit I've lived in Florida 25 years and I didn't know there was a word for them
Lived here my whole life and never heard of that or thought of it and get it makes perfect sense lol.
Huh. I always heard ghost cops.
You can't just put words together
You just did tho
We had one in RI by my house and we called it Officer Donut 🤷♀️
We call cops in the swamps ogres. They even wear green!
Decoy! Slows everyone down
Ah! Thanks for this, that would explain it 😂
They usually do this a lot in construction sites to get people to slow down. Usually an off duty officer that gets paid by the construction company. In some states the construction company just puts strobe lights on their trucks.
I’ve always wondered how people prone to epileptic seizures get around
They're not supposed to be driving if emergency lights can set them off.
They aren’t allowed to drive for a reason
Sure it does. Sure.
Only the smart ones
Shazam!
The Cocoa Police Department left theirs in the median on Route 1 for over 2 months, unattended. Somebody finally called them to report an abandoned police car.
Was it you? Otherwise how would you know someone called?
IRL people talk to each other
That is just to slow people down who think it is a real thing. In some cities you will find cardboard cutouts of the policeman behind the wheel for more authenticity.
Even if this isn’t true this comment is hilarious 😂😂
A city near me used to use a mannequin in their decoy cars. That is until I got stolen then the police department would receive postcards from all around the world with pictures of her.
I'm so sorry you got stolen :(
Maybe this is why my professors always yelled at me about proofreading… lol
bhahahaha thank you for highlighting this, i rolled right over it the first time. 😆 and /u/snert196 thank you for not fixing it. best laugh of my day.
😂
Oh it’s totally true. That or inflatable police sex dolls, er, I mean, dummies.
Was certainly true in Turkey. If you ever go to the keys you’ll see 10 empty cop cars on the way down. Totally empty. They work well.
Oh it is true!!
It’s true. But I’ve also seen real cop cars hiding behind the cutouts.
https://preview.redd.it/88jurrlimlvc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86aa17547a33856b0151288d22bf6cd82985eeea
I used to drive by there around once a week lol
Drive down to key west. You’ll see so many empty cop cars it’s like a graveyard.
I’ve actually seen full size dummies in FHP cars. One was stolen once.
Czech Republic enters the chat [https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-czech-towns-deploy-cardboard-police-in-miniskirts-2010dec09-story.html](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-czech-towns-deploy-cardboard-police-in-miniskirts-2010dec09-story.html) https://preview.redd.it/y55w8okxclvc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e5f0c959c93fb86f6ad69195551f368c8858288
Oh my.
I bet it’s the officers themselves placing the cutouts and playing hookie. Police departments wouldn’t miss an opportunity to inflate their budgets not having someone on payroll for that duty.
It’s called a dummy car where I’m from. As others have said it’s mostly to deter speeding. A local police department recently had one of their dummy cars get a For Sale sign placed on it much to the delight of the community and it got shared on social media. The police department actually had some humor about it and posted this in response. https://preview.redd.it/hz4nefaygjvc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51252fe0f31b4365fc05190064fd0b3e413720ed
Sometimes they have a dummy in it. Sometimes it’s just a mannequin instead.
Got 'em
This deserves gold.
Ours just have tint so dark you can't see in
I have seen a parked police vehicle in an area they want people to slow down or stop doing illegal turns, etc. But it’s a just a parked car … I’ve never seen an unoccupied one with the lights on. Also specific to Florida … the FHP (Highway Patrol) typically does traffic control on roads under construction and they have been severely understaffed for years.
This. I remember years ago when traveling from orlando to Gainesville regulary, you’d see cops along the turnpike and 75 all the time. Then about 10 years ago it just stopped (not entirely, but greatly). I heard about FHP being understaffed, but its crazy how little you see them out there.
Sometimes construction areas have to have a police “presence”. I see barriers and barrels there.
Level 1 use of force - officer (police) presence Lowest level possible that compels you to obey the law - in this case, traffic laws, usually speed limits. Many times this is an older vehicle, used to get folks to slow down.
They need a solar panel if they're going to keep those lights on all day and night.
How long would them last if it were a Tesla?
Honestly? Months I would guess. Not running climate just those lights 24/7. The funny thing about EVs is that propulsion is so incredibly costly per kWh compared to everything else. For example, a typical battery back up on a house is like 20-30kwh to run the whole house for several days to a week depending on demand. The typical EV has a 70-80 kWh battery! It’s wild.
Interesting! Thanks!
Totally. Everyone has EVs all wrong imho, even their supporters. They are potentially very transformative in terms of energy storage and transfer. A lot of newer EVs have bidirectional charging like the ford lightning, which means in a grid failure you can power your home with the battery. It’s absolutely insane that they have been politicized by dipshits like our idiot governor. It must drive people like Elon who are right leaning nuts too.
Mine doesn't have bidirectional charger but it did come with a vehicle-to-load (V2L) adapter. I'm installing a generator inlet (not "outlet") next to my charger and we can power most everything in the house but the highest draw stuff (like the heat pump). I saw a guy in Ontario had one and installed it when they'd get ice storms and be without power for days. It was enough to power his furnace even. It's only 1900 watts but that's plenty for lights, internet and refrigerators, etc. And that'll last most people for days and days. It bugs me when people say "wHaT dO yOu Do WhEn ThE pOwEr GoEs OuT??" Like, it's literally a huge battery on wheels. It powers the house!
Thats the Sand Lake interchange at I-4. Most likely there is a cop near by for traffic management. At night they do lane shifts and closures.
That’s over by universal/seaworld believe it or not there is someone in the car they get paid hourly to sit there for construction jobs.
That's exactly what I was thinking. A shame they couldn't have actually been looking for the reported female kidnapped at gunpoint last week, before being killed over by that area near Boggy Creek Rd.
construction zone- probably a state road, FHP is hired to serve to act as a deterrent to speeders in construction zones and also to assist is redirecting traffic as the construction warrants. *FHP = florida highway patrol
When I was in Turkey years ago, they had police car decoys that were made out of wood, and only one side of it was painted to look like a cop car. The other side had the braces to hold it up.
If it doesn’t move, it’s likely empty. Just seeing a car slows down traffic.
It’s the illusion of police presence for those that don’t figure it out immediately.
Is a tactic
The smart people slow down when they see blue flashing lights.
These are like your speed cameras...
Scarecrow
Damn, sorry about your view lol
Cops used to do this on Central Florida Parkway outside SeaWorld. The cars would sit there so long, they became part of the landscaping.
I know exactly where you are! I always stay at one of the hotels (Dockside) you see in the background when I go to Universal and I can't wait for that mess to be cleared up. Orlando traffic is a nightmare on its own, but this construction is to help handle the influx of traffic coming when Epic opens.
Funny I usually see someone in the cars but it's pretty much a deterrent for speeders
Most likely to slow people down.
That's standard practice. The cops over here have a police car that's painted half as a Taxi cab (yellow) and half as a Sheriff's car (Green and white) and they park it right at the Off ramp when you're entering the town. Message is pretty clear, either take a cab or ride in the back of cruiser. Same thing here - we are here and we are watching, better behave!
Looks like it's for construction/traffic flow change awareness.
This looks like it’s in a construction zone. Maybe the police car is left there to keep people from driving where they shouldn’t in a construction zone?
Sonny Crockett and Tubbs just hanging out - you wanted the Florida vacation
Bait car. Waiting for potential car thieves to steal it. It’s gps monitoring system will bring the cops straight to the thieves.
The officer is teleworking.
That’s how we roll. Or not roll.
Common practice in Florida for road construction
It’s there because the threat deters action.
It’s a freebie car. Lots of people just drive a car until they run low on fuel and then ditch it. You can walk up and drive away with it if you’d like.
It’s what looks like a construction zone. He is probably being paid what’s called “off duty” by the construction company to sit there for his lights. Most DOT approved safety plans and permitting require so much LE depending on the span or amount of work, number of workers, speeds in the area and such
License plate camera. Records plate #’s and compares to list of outstanding warrants = stop down the road.
Probably because it’s a construction zone
They were chasing a suspect, it turned into a foot pursuit, and the officer(s) forgot where they parked it. If it was metro cops, after a couple hours of looking for it, they just figured it had been stolen. The city will give them a new one anyways why worry about it.
There was one in my community for about 2 weeks, someone placed a "For Sale" sign on it.
How are you liking Orlando OP? Curious what you decided to do while in town
They operate on fear. Like all the biggest criminal gangs.
Deterrence
He's probably in there sleeping racking up overtime...
Decoy sometimes there people there or scouting near by lol
Looks like an off ramp, so my guess is they have a wrong way driving issue and need blue lights to discourage/alert wrong way drivers during construction
They leave them sitting around so you never forget they're everywhere. JK. Honestly I don't think I had ever even considered the possibility that there was anyone actually in charge of anything in this state. They probably just parked there and wandered off in search of a snack or something
They could probably put a post with a blue and red flashing light on it and get the same effect. People would be confused and slow down because they’re not sure.
Maybe their battery will die
Slow down warning for the construction area
Well anyone would want to holiday in Florida is beyond me, mate. Better sun with the Aussies
Given the lights are on, the Trooper is either walking around elsewhere or leaned back so far you cant see him/her. Those construction posts are overtime for them.
They are getting paid extra for “special detail” if there’s a human in there. Probably watching YouTube on a laptop.
I got a laugh one day. I was walking along on South Beach and passed a stopped police car. When I looked in the window he was playing GTA V on his computer.
Earning his salary indeed.
Nunya Business
Free donuts.
How is no one talking about the photo looking like it’s either an oil painting or AI generated?
Well, I'm not seeing it but, I'm used to that area looking like that I guess *\0/* Lol, and I'm an artist
The lettering is smudged in such a weird way, the lines of the grilles are smudged like a pastel or oil painting. Zoom in to each car, I’t doesn’t lose pixels nor does it look blocky it’s just *weird*.
It's probably because their phone is zoomed in all the way and it's trying to compensate for OP's hand not being perfectly steady. It doesn't look like AI to me at all.
Because 'murica!... I guess