When you’re cruising down the road and you mindlessly change lanes without signaling, or commit any other minor traffic violation, spotting a police officer on your tail is a bummer. Tickets are expensive, and if you have to go to court, that’s a real pain. It would be much nicer to earn a reward for your bad driving, maybe a whole turkey. Police officers in Forth Worth, Texas, are on board with the idea, according to the local ABC affiliate.
Fort Worth Police Officer Anthony Colter made five traffic stops on Wednesday, according to ABC 8. Normally, he would hand out citations for violations such as failing to signal and not wearing a seatbelt, but this day was different. "We're going to overlook that," Colter told one driver, according to the network. "Instead of giving out citations, we're going to give you a Thanksgiving turkey!"
In a post on Facebook, Fort Worth PD explained the move: "We had a few extra turkeys laying around, courtesy of Metro Ministries, and decided to show how thankful we are to our awesome citizens! We can't wait for Thanksgiving!" The turkeys-instead-of-tickets policy led one Facebook user to call Fort Worth’s officers "the coolest PD I've ever seen."
Recipients of the turkeys were understandably thrilled. "I'm pleased to see it, because there's so much hate in this country right now," one motorist told ABC 8. "To see brotherly love, it's very, very inspiring." The story is a nice follow-up to the Virginia police officers who pulled drivers over to hand out ice cream in July.
• Fort Worth Police Hand Out Thanksgiving Turkeys Instead of Tickets [ABC8]
• World's Best Cop Pulls Driver Over, Issues Ice Cream Instead of Ticket [E]
• All Good Deeds [E]