Devon and Cornwall Police introduced Optimus Crime to the public
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Nickname contests have been gaining in popularity over recent years.
In Minnesota, for example, a 2022-23 winter contest to name snowplows around the state garnered such entries as Blizzo, Clearopathra and Sleetwood Mac.
Or in 2016, Boaty McBoatface was the winning entry to name a British polar research ship.
And recently, a British police department unveiled the nickname for its police tractor.
The Devon and Cornwall Police Department held a contest for kids 12 and under to submit entries to name the John Deere 6110M tractor it received as a donation from Masons Kings, a local equipment dealership.
Reuben and Optimus Crime (Devon and Cornwall Police photo).
Of the more than 500 entries it received, the winning submission came from a four-year-old named Reuben.
A big Transformers fan, Reuben suggested the name Optimus Crime – a reference to Optimus Prime, the leader of the good guy Autobots.
And given Prime’s characteristics, it seems like an apt suggestion for his crime-fighting ag counterpart.
“Optimus is kind, caring, selfless, serious, highly intelligent, calculating and wise,” a Transformers fan site says. “He has a strong sense of justice, honor and good morals.”
The Devon and Cornwall Police’s Rural Affairs Team will have the tractor stationed at local farm shows to raise awareness about how police can support rural residents concerned about theft.
Officers will be “sparking conversations with farmers, highlighting crime prevention strategies, and engaging with those who might not interact with police teams normally,” Constable Clark Orchard said, the Wales Farmer reported.
In Ohio, a historical society recently received a tractor donation.
The Delaware County Historical Society welcomed a restored 1941 Ford Ferguson tractor.
The tractor, named Violet, worked in Michigan before arriving in Ohio where it did more fieldwork and gave hayrides.
The tractor, and others like it, “serve as an homage to our county’s agricultural heritage,” the historical society said.
According to TractorData.com, Ford Fergusons, also known as the N-series, were manufactured between 1939 and 1942.
Just over 99,000 were built during that time, selling for $585 in 1939.
Adjusting for inflation, that tractor would cost about $12,000 in 2023.