SEAL BEACH : Police Puppet Often Upstages Sidekick

It was another busy day on the beat for Police Sgt. Rick Paap and his partner Officer Safety, a smiling, 3-foot-tall dummy clad in a freshly pressed police uniform.

Facing a roomful of wide-eyed children recently on an assignment Paap considers as important as anything else his department does, the pair quickly broke into their own version of the good-cop-bad-cop routine.

“Hey, she’s kind of cute,” observed Officer Safety about a small girl in the audience. The quip was quickly admonished by Paap, the straight man in a performance that resembled “Sesame Street” more than it did “Dragnet.”

Paap is Seal Beach’s crime prevention officer. The job puts him on the front lines in the effort to teach children about stop signs, 911 calls and the danger of drugs and gangs.

For the past five years, Paap and Officer Safety have been making the rounds at Orange County schools, hospitals and youth groups with a message about safety and responsibility.

Officer Safety is just one of three puppets used by Paap, but clearly he and the others are the stars of the show.

Except for the dummy’s stiff frame and mechanical movements, Officer Safety’s persona couldn’t be more different from the “just-the-facts” style of Joe Friday. A wisecracker with an eye for women, Officer Safety is something of an alter ego for Paap, a 15-year department veteran who has served on SWAT teams and beach patrols.

“The children respond more to his demeanor than they do mine,” said the 43-year-old Los Alamitos bachelor. “They will forget me. They won’t forget Officer Safety.”

Along with fellow puppets Prisoner Pete and Firefighter Freddie, Officer Safety is most popular with youngsters in kindergarten through second grade.

A typical presentation might include tips on how to safely cross the street, what to do in case of an emergency and why it is important to say no to strangers. Children from the audience are encouraged to participate in the show, which usually means chatting with Officer Safety.

At a recent holiday performance for cancer-stricken children at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Officer Safety’s Christmas wish met with smiling approval. “I wish all kids get better and that there won’t be any more drugs or gangs in the whole world,” he said.

Paap invents much of the act as he goes along. It changes with the latest styles and lingo.

For Paap, the job is a perfect blend of a job he feels good about and a hobby he has loved since his childhood. He invented his puppets with the help of famed puppeteer Jerry Mahoney as a way of “bringing back a little puppet and helping people at the same time.”

And as much fun as the performances are, Paap said his work as a crime prevention officer is serious business. “I believe law enforcement is education,” he said. “If we had these programs 20 years ago, I don’t think we’d have a lot of the problems we have today.”

Some of Paap’s fellow officers have chided him about the nature of his work, but that doesn’t bother him. “I’ve been kidded tremendously,” he said. “But a lot of police officers are parents. They give me ideas--but never in front of other people.”