Kamloops RCMP say they caught more than two dozen drivers who were texting while behind the wheel as part of a new blitz that involved an officer in costume carrying a prop baby.

Mounties say officers were able to catch more than 25 drivers at two downtown locations who were using their phones over the course of several hours on one late November day.

The blitz was part of Operation E-Baby, where police say officers in plainclothes wearing a baby carrier with a doll inside approach drivers who are stopped in traffic to check if they’re using their phones. If they are, the driver is pulled over and ticketed.

“The volume of people using cellphones is crazy – you just have to put them away,” Corporal Wayne Chung of the Kamloops RCMP Municipal Traffic Unit, said, in a news release.

“If you can’t police yourself, we will police you.”

Chung says many of the people who were caught were using their phones to text or check social media.

“And they’re so distracted,” he said. “I’m walking right up to them and they don’t even see it.”

Chung says while distracted driving is one of the biggest causes of crashes, noting the Kamloops unit will also continue to be on the lookout for impaired drivers during the upcoming holiday season.

He says the Kamloops Municipal Traffic Unit issued eight 90-day driving suspensions during the first Saturday in December, Dec. 2. They also issued two three-day prohibitions, and one 24-hour prohibition, all related to drinking and driving.

“There’s absolutely no excuse to drive impaired in today’s society and the consequences are swift and immediate,” Chung added.

Distracted driving comes with a fine of of $368 and four driver penalty points.

ICBC says people with four or more points on their driving record at the end of a 12-month period, will pay a driver penalty point (DPP) premium. They may also be subject to a driver risk premium if they get more than one distracted driving ticket in a three-year period.​