Posted on 10/16/2005 2:09:24 PM PDT by elkfersupper
There would be little point asking two new policemen in Southwold if they are cut out for the job.
Cardboard coppers outnumber the real thing two-to-one in four Waveney market towns as part of an attempt to raise awareness of the community officers.
The eight cut-outs are slightly larger-than-life copies of four PCs who work in Halesworth, Bungay and Beccles, as well as Southwold and its neighbouring village of Reydon. They will be "on duty" in shops while their walking, talking counterparts carry out patrols.
Last night, Suffolk police moved to answer criticism that people wanted real officers rather than the cardboard ones, which have been funded by Beccles, Bungay and Halesworth Crime Prevention Panels.
The EDP asked Suffolk's Chief Constable to say whether the cutouts had been launched in place of putting more officers on the street. But the question was referred on to Beccles sector commander Insp Tim Powell, on the grounds that it was a "neighbourhood policing matter".
Insp Powell said: "The Chief Constable is keen on any measures that develop neighbourhood policing and raise awareness of community officers.
"But this is not a move designed to allow for cuts in the future, it is a new initiative that will help us do our job better."
Steve Barrett, crime reduction officer for Suffolk Police, said the £90 cardboard officers gave confidence to the public and the scheme could be expanded.
"It's not about having them instead of regular officers, it's about reducing crime and raising the profile of community officers," he said.
Mr Barrett conceded that it would be possible to get waterproof cutouts for outdoors and buy new ones when the community police officer changed.
Brian Woodruff, a Beccles town councillor, was not impressed.
"It's a cheap way of getting extra police out there," he said. "But it would be better to have the extra real policemen or more community wardens.
"At the end of the day, there is nothing better than seeing a security guard on the door of a shop or seeing yourself on camera as you walk in, or seeing a real policeman.
"It's the psychology really," he added. "Just like dud speed cameras."
Patricia Flegg, a town councillor at Halesworth, said the town really needed to have two community policemen, rather than the one it had at the moment.
"What we want is to have extra policemen," she said. "Having said that, anything that makes people think twice before they do something has to help."
Mrs Flegg said she knew someone who owned a fluorescent jacket and found that motorists slow down when driving past him.
A spokesman for the Home Office would not comment on the suggestion that cardboard policemen were being used as a means of reassurance because there was not enough money for more real officers.
The cardboard policemen are not the first to be used in Suffolk, although previous projects used a generic constable, rather than a copy of a real one.
The first replica policeman was used in the UK at a supermarket in Yorkshire in 1993, but was stolen soon afterwards.
Recently, the idea has helped cut shoplifting figures in the parts of the US by almost a third.
And 300 cardboard traffic police have started standing outside schools in Vilnius, Lithuania, in an attempt to slow motorists and reduce accident rates.
The Southwold cardboard officers are sponsored by Adnams Brewery.
Anyone interested in sponsoring other cutouts should call Steve Barrett on 01986 835461 or 07734 909358.
If this were in the U.S., there would soon be real undercover cops surveiling the cardboard cops and arresting people for messing with 'em.
In NO they would be on the payroll.
The "Cardboard Cops" are already here. http://www.sptimes.com/2003/04/02/NorthPinellas/Cardboard_Cops_may_go.shtml
Will the ACLU go after these paper cops for impersonating an officer of the law? Unfortunately for them the Cardboard Cops are the ultimate silent types. Confessions are unlikely to follow.
LOL!!
The sad truth is that these two cut-out coppers may be less prone to corruption, more effective on detering crime and cheaper to pay than the real cops.
Brits should be looking for vast changes in the makeup of their police forces soon!!!
P.C. paper cop
I worry they may run for office!
Wonder if they beat up retired school teachers??
Ping!
No big deal....hell Clinton made over 100,000 paper cops.....
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