• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Advertise
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Subscribe
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Leadership
    • Why you should lead from 30,000 feet
      Public perception and trust
      When performance reviews are a waste of time
      Taking a page from Toyota’s playbook
      Tattoos can be self-inflicted handicaps
  • Topics
    • Leadership
      • Why you should lead from 30,000 feet
        Public perception and trust
        When performance reviews are a waste of time
        Taking a page from Toyota’s playbook
        Tattoos can be self-inflicted handicaps
    • Editor’s Picks
      • Liability challenges in contemporary policing
        When performance reviews are a waste of time
        Proactive wellness visits
        Taking a page from Toyota’s playbook
        Law enforcement’s missing weapon
    • On the Job
      • Right place, right time — again
        Some good news on crime
        Mom-to-be named Cop of the Year
        Fatherly instincts save boy from icy water
        More than a call for service
    • Labor
      • Labor release under fire
        Who’s watching the watchmen?
        Crime and punishment (or lack thereof) in Seattle
        Labor leadership out in the field
        When you are falsely accused
    • Tech
      • A modern field guide to understanding research in policing
        Gear that moves with you
        A new breed of cop car
        The future of patrol is here
        New York governor highlights $24 million investment to modernize law...
    • Training
      • Navigating danger
        Critical thinking in police training
        Threshold neuroscience
        Integrated virtual reality training
        Hit the pause button
    • Policy
      • Try racing without wheels
        Law enforcement accreditation: Why it matters
        Liability challenges in contemporary policing
        The war on drugs is evolving
        Drug policy and enforcement
    • Health/Wellness
      • Nervous system regulation
        The nature of the job
        Promoting organizational wellness
        Telling cops to get more sleep isn’t working
        Proactive wellness visits
    • Community
      • Shop with a Cop
        Community engagement: What is it moving forward?
        Contradictory crossroads
        Back-to-school season brings out police support nationwide
        A bold idea for reducing homelessness in America
    • Offbeat
      • An unexpected burglar
        Police humor only a cop would understand
        Not eggzactly a perfect heist
        Pizza … with a side of alligator?
        Wisconsin man charged with impersonating Border Patrol agent twice in...
    • We Remember
      • Forty heroes: United Airlines Flight 93
        The Pentagon
        A nation propelled to war, lives changed forever
        A Christmas loss
        York County ambush leaves three officers dead, others critically...
    • HOT Mail
      • The War on Cops Continues Unabated
  • On the Job
    • Right place, right time — again
      Some good news on crime
      Mom-to-be named Cop of the Year
      Fatherly instincts save boy from icy water
      More than a call for service
  • Labor
    • Labor release under fire
      Who’s watching the watchmen?
      Crime and punishment (or lack thereof) in Seattle
      Labor leadership out in the field
      When you are falsely accused
  • Tech
    • A modern field guide to understanding research in policing
      Gear that moves with you
      A new breed of cop car
      The future of patrol is here
      New York governor highlights $24 million investment to modernize law...
  • Training
    • Navigating danger
      Critical thinking in police training
      Threshold neuroscience
      Integrated virtual reality training
      Hit the pause button
  • Policy
    • Try racing without wheels
      Law enforcement accreditation: Why it matters
      Liability challenges in contemporary policing
      The war on drugs is evolving
      Drug policy and enforcement
  • Health/Wellness
    • Nervous system regulation
      The nature of the job
      Promoting organizational wellness
      Telling cops to get more sleep isn’t working
      Proactive wellness visits
  • Community
    • Shop with a Cop
      Community engagement: What is it moving forward?
      Contradictory crossroads
      Back-to-school season brings out police support nationwide
      A bold idea for reducing homelessness in America
  • Offbeat
    • An unexpected burglar
      Police humor only a cop would understand
      Not eggzactly a perfect heist
      Pizza … with a side of alligator?
      Wisconsin man charged with impersonating Border Patrol agent twice in...
  • We Remember
    • Forty heroes: United Airlines Flight 93
      The Pentagon
      A nation propelled to war, lives changed forever
      A Christmas loss
      York County ambush leaves three officers dead, others critically...
  • HOT Mail
    • The War on Cops Continues Unabated
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
Search

Offbeat

“There is a cop hiding behind this sign”

A Minnesota sheriff’s office teams up with a local business to prevent speeding with an eye-catching billboard

APB Team Published April 22, 2022 @ 12:00 pm PDT

Scott County Sheriff’s Office
Scott County Sheriff’s Office

A not-so-subtle billboard in Scott County, Minnesota, is prompting drivers to think twice about speeding.

The billboard, which states, “There is a cop hiding behind this sign,” is the result of an unexpected partnership between the Scott County Sheriff’s Office and local business Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store.

“This road is a fast road,” store owner Robert Wagner told WCCO 4. “When you back away from law enforcement on that road, the speed starts getting faster and faster and faster.”

Wagner’s business is a popular roadside attraction located along Highway 169 in Jordan. Around 20,000 cars pass by the location every day, and many of them are driving above the 65-mph speed limit.

Wagner, who has used the signs outside his business to try to limit speeding since opening the location in 1978, hopes the new billboard will get people to slow down.

“I’m not going to say it’s road rage, but we experience the people really driving fast around us,” he said of the issue.

Wagner said his previous attempts at getting people to observe the speed limit had not been positively received by the community. But opinions changed when he proposed the idea of a police partnership to the local sheriff.

“I think law enforcement sometimes gets put in a box of — it’s simply enforcement or transactional, but really, it is community based. As a county sheriff, I embrace that,” Scott County Sheriff Luke Hennen said.

With help from local law enforcement, Wagner believes the sign will be more effective — and this time, there really is going to be a patrol car behind the sign.

On the back side of the large yellow billboard sits an empty Scott County squad car with the message, “Shhhhhh, I’m waiting for a speeder,” in red uppercase letters.

“[People have said)] ‘Did you just see that? Did you know there’s a squad car out by the big sign?’,” Wagner said. “It gets your attention, you know, ‘Boom, hey what’s that?’”

As of this writing, the department’s Facebook post showing the sign has been shared nearly 3,000 times.

“We were hoping to impact our local community,” a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office stated. “Now we’re seeing across the nation people are sharing the story and talking about it.”

Police say that officers from multiple jurisdictions will patrol the area frequently to enforce speeding to keep the roads safe.

Wagner explained that the sign will remain up for a few more weeks and will likely change when the store opens for the season on May 6.

Categories: Offbeat Tags: Minnesota, road rage, highway, speeding, eye-catching billboard, Scott County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store, Luke Hennen, patrol car, road safety

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • Nervous system regulation
  • Navigating danger
  • The nature of the job
  • Forty heroes: United Airlines Flight 93
  • Why you should lead from 30,000 feet
  • Promoting organizational wellness
  • Critical thinking in police training
  • Public perception and trust
  • Labor release under fire
  • Reminder: Apply now for the 2026 Destination Zero Awards

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com | (800) 234-0056.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

Liability challenges in contemporary policing

Liability challenges in contemporary policing

February 27, 2026

When performance reviews are a waste of time

When performance reviews are a waste of time

February 26, 2026

Proactive wellness visits

Proactive wellness visits

February 25, 2026

Taking a page from Toyota’s playbook

Taking a page from Toyota’s playbook

February 23, 2026

Policies | Consent Preferences | Copyright © 2026 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close

Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.