Dundee to have ‘pop up’ cut-out police officers to urge drivers to slow down

LIFE-SIZE cutout police officers are to be placed at speeding hot-spots in Dundee to remind drivers to slow down.

The figures, known as “Pop-up Jims”, show the officer holding a speed gun which is aimed at drivers to remind them to check how fast they are going.

They will be placed in Dundee’s Strathmartine and Coldside wards where concerns have been raised about speeding.

The pilot project will run over the coming months.

Pop Up Jims will deployed Dundee's Strathmartine & Coldside areas in effort to tackle speeding. Pop Up Jim is a life sized police officer with a speed gun and will serve as a reminder to drivers to check their speed #keepingpeoplesafe #RoadSafety pic.twitter.com/wbCO4TYT9w

— DundeePolice (@DundeePolice) December 15, 2017

Chief Inspector Nicky Russell, Local Area Commander for Dundee, said: “This is a fantastic initiative by the local Community Team to address concerns from local residents and wider community, we will use the Pop-up Jims to tackle the areas of concern as well as enforcing the issues of speeding drivers, to ensure we keep our roads safe for our communities.”

Pop-up Jims have previously been deployed successfully in Fife, police said.

Sergeant Lesley Mann from Police Scotland’s Tayside Division worked with two local groups – Coldside Community Forum and Kirkton Community Safety Partnership – to find the funding needed for the project.

Dundee Partnership’s Community Regeneration Forums in Strathmartine and Coldside agreed to provide the funding for the groups to buy the ‘Pop-up Jims’.

“Concerns have been raised about speeding at Local Community Partnerships in both the Starthmartine and Coldside wards and Police Scotland suggested this would be a way to combat that.

“Kirkton Community Safety Partnership and Coldside Community Forum secured funding through the Community Regeneration Forums for the Pop-up Jims and I’m delighted to see them here combating speeding drivers.”

George Crozier, maintenance manager of construction services at Dundee City Council, donated the padlocks to keep “Pop-up Jim” safe.