Chinese man’s ‘fight’ with dummy police officer lands him in trouble with the real thing
Roadside replica slapped and accused of stopping the man previously for drink-driving, in video that catches the attention of the dummy’s real-life ‘colleagues’
A man in northwest China has been detained for abusing a dummy traffic police officer and posting a video of it online, according to local police.
The man, surnamed Yang, was travelling as a passenger in a vehicle last Monday in Huining, Gansu province, when he spotted the dummy officer at a junction, according to the local police’s social media account on Friday.
Yang – who later explained that he had been drinking – asked the driver to stop and film him giving the “officer” a piece of his mind, according to the post.
He then verbally insulted the replica officer, and slapped and pretended to punch and kick it, claiming that it had “stopped him many times for drunk-driving”, the post stated.
The video was disseminated on social media after Yang uploaded it, the police post said. He was identified from the video and detained for “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” – an offence used by Chinese police to arrest people for behaviour ranging from physical assault to staging a protest.
The offence can be punishable by a sentence of up to 10 years, but Yang received only an administrative detention, which can be for up to 15 days but will not lead to prosecution.
Dummy police are common in remote parts of China. They were introduced primarily to remind people to drive safely.