The next homeless guy you see could be... a cop?!?

Florida ( where else?) has been using disguised police officers to run speed traps.

Here's the story as stolen from the Ocala Star-Banner Aug. 30, 2006 ...

OCALA - The sight of a homeless man on a corner Tuesday, cradling a cardboard sign that asked drivers to buckle up, should have raised some suspicion.

But the picture didn't click with many motorists until it was too late.Fifty-eight citations were issued Tuesday in an Ocala Police operation during which traffic Sgt. Billy Woods dressed up as a homeless man.

Behind his cardboard sign, he held a police radio and a speed-detection radar.Working at several problem traffic areas throughout the day, Woods kept an eye out - mostly for drivers speeding or running red lights - and then radioed one of several traffic officers hiding nearby.

"If a driver sees a officer on a corner, a lot of times they will stop whatever they are doing wrong before we see them," said Woods, who was dressed in flip-flops, cut-off ragged shorts and an open shirt revealing a sweaty blue T-shirt.A Rastafarian cap stapled with fake dreadlocks completed his attire.Many drivers, who seemed to have a hunch something was going on, gave Woods a thumbs up sign or waved as they slowly drove past or stopped at the red lights.

Some drivers and passengers could be seen smiling to themselves, with one shaking his head at the sight of Woods standing in front of Good Shepherd Memorial Gardens on Southwest 20th Street - with a bottle of Gatorade in one hand and the speed detector in the other.

The operation there targeted vehicles traveling east through a stretch of construction work zones where at least five signs read 25 mph and police have received numerous complaints of speeders from work crews.Aiming the black speed detector at oncoming drivers about 150 yards away, Woods caught a number of vehicles - including one going 50 mph. He quickly radioed in the vehicle to a group of traffic officers gathered at the Memorial Gardens entrance another 100 yards down the road."He looked just like a homeless man downtown," yelled one groundskeeper at Good Shepherd Memorial Gardens.

At one point, officers had five vehicles stopped at one time, including one unlicensed driver waiting for someone to pick him up. Officers stopped 104 vehicles. Some drivers only received warnings, including those clocked at more than 6 mph over the speed limit but less than 10 mph - if they had on seat belts. Some drivers not wearing seat belts received an additional citation.

At the corner of South Pine and Southeast 17th Street, concealed motorcycle officers would quickly zip behind violators as Woods radioed in the vehicle.Called "Operation BOLO for Billy" - BOLO is a police acronym for "be on the lookout" - Tuesday was not the first time police have been innovative with setting up a speed trap. They have dressed as construction workers, as workmen lifted up to a power pole in buckets and as a chicken, Woods said.

"If we can think of it, we'll do it," police spokesman Sgt. Lou Biondi said. Not all drivers welcomed the creativity, especially those who were cited."What violation?" yelled Maria Dolores Kuck-Soucy, standing in the CVS drug store parking lot on South Pine Avenue after an officer issued her a ticket at about 8 a.m. for failure to yield the right of way."It's just police using every resource that's available to enforce traffic laws and educate motorists," Biondi said.