If I was a Marketing Director for the Boise Police Department or the Idaho State Police, I would not spend my budget on warning people when, where & what we are going to pull “you” over for.

Ummm, didn’t we all take the test when we are 15/16 years old…shouldn’t we KNOW not to drink and drive, or speed in a school zone or tailgate/drive crazy?

The PR side of story telling and what happens when people drink & drive etc. is differernt – those are almost scare tactics, you know: Oprah-esque stories that scare us into doing the right thing.

My thinking is that if you don’t warn the public where you are going to pull them over (like in the major construction area,  on the very well posted 55 MPH freeway) you might just make some more money by getting those that are not “in the know” of the rules that we learned at 15.  Wouldn’t that increase the number of tickets and hence the budget for the Police Department where it could be used on training, hiring more officers to catch bad guys and better PR stories?

My first PR/Marketing campaign would be reminding people how to use a 4-way stop sign when there are 4 cars. (BTW: the person that is going straight HAS THE RIGHT AWAY, not the person turning)….and when there are only two cars next to each other: yes, the first car to arrive goes first.

Takeaway & Question to you: Do you think the Boise Police Department is using their marketing dollars in a responsible way where we are getting the most use & information from it?  What would you suggest?