GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- He wasn't dressed like a police officer, but his message came straight from the police department: "Don't run red lights."

Officer Patrick Rice with the Grand Junction Police Department spent two hours Thursday on the corner of 12th Street and North Avenue in Grand Junction holding the sign.

He was dressed more like a homeless person or a war protestor, but drivers who paid attention to his sign saved them themselves a ticket.

The sign had one more sentence, it said "My partners are waiting."

That was true, too.

Several officers were stationed in each direction from the intersection to write tickets.

More than a dozen people were ticketed for running the red light and other violations.

According to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the police department’s traffic unit once a month targets high-crash intersections to crack down on red-light runners.

Thursday was the first time an officer has employed the cardboard sign technique. Rice said he volunteered to hold the sign because it might catch people’s attention.

For more on the story, click here for the article in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.