Four ‘cardboard cutouts’ of real PCs and PCSOs have been placed in shops in two Lincolnshire market towns in an official effort to reduce the number of thefts. The figures each hold a ‘clipboard’ on which can be placed details of particular police operations.
The cardboard counterparts of PC Dave Mills and PCSO Ali Evans are on duty in Louth, while the alternative PC Rachel Dobson is on static patrol in Horncastle’s Tesco and PCSO Dean Warrilow can be found in another store in the town.
Sgt Lee Willoughby, from Louth Police Station, said: “Such visual deterrents have proved very effective elsewhere in the country. Large stores may be able to afford high tech CCTV systems and private security staff but this isn’t always an option for small market town shops and any theft can have a big impact on their businesses. These figures will remind anyone considering committing crime that the real counterparts are on patrol nearby and that the hand they feel on their shoulder will be a very real one.”
Visit http://www.lincs.police.uk
