Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Baby You Can Drive My Car... Carefully

Chief Benjamin Fox of the Wyckoff Police Department near our old hometown clearly has a sense of humor... and an eye for detail.

To promote his agency’s crackdown on motorists who ignore the law governing yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks, Chief Fox and three of his officers recently put their tongues in their cheeks and re-created the iconic cover of the Beatles’ Abbey Road album.  The result was as intended: Plenty of media coverage, and plenty of attention to the issue.


Wyckoff may not be London, and Wyckoff Avenue may not be London's Abbey Road, but despite the suburban setting Chief Fox got the details right.  There is a new white VW Beetle parked where the original album photo had a then-new Beetle, and there is a black police vehicle where the original album photo had a black police van.  Chief Fox is dressed in a gray suit as was Paul McCartney, and is both barefoot (!) and carrying a cigarette as was Paul.  (In truth, Chief Fox is carrying a pen, not a cigarette.  Click the photo for an enlarged view.)

His officers (from left, Sgt. Robert Mckay, Sgt. Jack McEwan, and Lt. Charles Van Dyk) are each in police apparel that matches the colors worn by George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon, respectively, on the original album cover.

As for Township Administrator Robert Shannon Jr., in the background at right with the bagpipes, well, we’ll chalk that up to artistic license.  There was a bystander at the right in the original photo, although that bystander had no bagpipes.  At the moment this photo was taken Mr Shannon was piping Yellow Submarine, which was from the earlier album titled Revolver.  So, again, artistic license.

With the photo the Wyckoff Police Department issued a press release that explained what is required of motorists at crosswalks and announced the agency’s enforcement campaign.

It is nice to see Chief Fox and his officers Come Together on Something like this.  The End.