I hate to be a grinch, but: this is not a legitimate use of the power to pull people over. You’re invoking the power of the state to compel someone to stop; it’s not a personal privilege you can make use of whenever you get a cute idea.
Obviously this motorist was relieved to be getting a turkey instead of a ticket & isn’t about to complain. But you’re ultimately detaining someone under threat of legal penalty, whether they want to stop or not. That shouldn’t be used frivolously, even to do something nice.
Strictly speaking, it’s illegal: With a handful of exceptions (none of which involve turkey distribution), police can’t detain someone without reasonable suspicion to believe they’ve commited an infraction.
Legality aside—though that’s obviously the most important thing—they’re taking a nice gesture and bundling it with a few minutes of pointless anxiety for the motorist. Why not just... do the nice gesture? Wait for someone to park and give em a turkey! Put up flyers!
The only reasons you’d choose to give out turkeys this way—rather than, y’know, just giving them out—are that you find it funny as a prank, or you enjoy the exaggerated gratitude that comes when a gift is substituted for an expected penalty. Neither is an especially nice motive.
