Southeast : Council Expands Cardboard Cop Security Program

Image is everything in Paramount’s new experiment in liquor store security.

In a pilot program subsidized by the city, two 20-inch video monitors--one by the cash register, another in the front window next to a 6-foot cardboard policeman--proved such a novel deterrent at two liquor stores that the City Council has budgeted $30,000 to help outfit 10 more shops.

Rather than trip up would-be robbers, the program seeks to keep them at a distance, Assistant City Manager Linda Benedetti-Leal said. She noted that the most innovative part of the program is that the monitors record activity in living color.

Another novel idea was putting a monitor in full view of passersby. “If someone’s casing, they see that right away,” Benedetti-Leal said.

Each of the 10 stores that are to receive the equipment must pay 20% of the cost. Benedetti-Leal said the first two stores to receive the monitors reported no robberies since they were installed more than a month ago.