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The pedestrian decoy detail was on the job again last night in Allenhurst, with three motorists ticketed in 35 minutes for failing to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk, according to Captain Michael Schneider.

The summons carries a fine of $200 and two motor vehicles points. The decoy detail was set up at the crosswalk at Spier and Ocean avenues.

“This is part of a larger pedestrian awareness program in the state that we’re trying to put out,” said Schneider. “It’s not just Allenhurst.”

During last night’s decoy detail, Schneider was the stopping officer who issued the summonses. The police decoy — in full police uniform — would begin to cross the street when a car was 102 feet away.

If a driver failed to stop for the officer, he would radio Schneider up the road who would pull the vehicle over and issue the summons.

“At 102 feet, the officer starts walking across. At 25 miles an hour, it’s amazing how many people say ‘I didn’t notice [the officer] in the road’,” Schneider said.

“We’re not writing the summonses because the officer is two feet into the road, he’s standing at the double yellow line,” said Schneider.

“One woman told me yesterday ‘I saw the officer, but I didn’t know why he was standing in the middle of the road’,” he said.

Schneider and another Allenhurst officer took a one day course by the New Jersey Division of Highway Safety on setting up the pedestrian decoys. Police departments throughout the state were represented, he said.

The 102 foot distance set for last night’s decoy detail is based on a Rutgers University study, which was used as part of the course training, said Schneider.

“There was a formula they came up with for the lead distance for driver reaction,” Schneider said. The distance between the vehicle and when the officer starts to walk across the street varies based on the speed limit and other conditions, he said.

The pedestrian decoy details would ideally be in the field for an hour at a time, Schneider said. Given the manpower constraints of the department, and the need to respond to other calls, the details at times will be shorter, such as last night’s 35 minutes, he said.

At a prior pedestrian decoy detail on July 27 at the same crosswalk at Spier and Ocean, seven summons were issued in an hour, Schneider said.

The first five summons that were issued with the decoy in full police uniform, said Schneider. The last two were issued after the officer decoy added a reflective vest, he said.

Future pedestrian decoy details will also use officers in plain clothes, said Schneider.

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