The cardboard cops: Indian city rolls out cutout policemen in bizarre bid to slow down traffic on its deadly roads

Bangalore authorities look to tackle dismal record of two road deaths a day

Estimates show police force would need to double its 3,000 traffic officers

Officials opt for cheaper alternative of strategically placed cardboard police

It is hoped speeding drivers will think they are real officers and slow down



India's high-tech city is shunning its blue chip reputation for a more primitive and cheaper means of controlling traffic on its deadly roads.



Instead of state-of-the-art speed cameras and number plate recognition devices, Bangalore's police chiefs opted to swell their ranks with recruits who work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without breaks, bribes or even a salary.

The city sees two road deaths every day and would need to double its 3,000 traffic officers to get a grip of the problem. But rather than fork out for personnel it cannot afford, the force is using life-size, cardboard cutout officers to get motorists to slow down.

Slow down! Authorities in Bangalore are using cardboard cutout police officers to control the city's roads

Cheap alternative: The latest recruits work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without breaks, bribes or pay

Bizarre: One passer-by is reported to have been so convinced by the fake officer that he was seen talking to it

The bizarre cutouts are being strategically placed on some of the busiest roads in Bangalore, home to 8.5 million people - although one was stolen within days of appearing at the roadside.



So far, only three of the khaki-wearing officers have been deployed but the authorities plan to roll-out more across the city over the coming weeks.

Officials believe the cutouts will fool speeding motorists into slowing down because they will think it is a real police officer standing by the side of the road.

One residents is reported to have been so convinced by the artificial officer, that he was seen talking to it.

On the beat: Police chiefs hope motorists will be fooled into thinking the cutouts are real and slowing down Action plan: The cutouts are being strategically placed at some of the city''s busiest roads and junctions

Bangalore's additional commissioner of police, Dr. MA Saleem, told NDTV : 'Policemen cannot be omnipresent at every road and every junction because we don’t have that much strength.

'The tendency among road users is that whenever they see there is no traffic policemen at any stretch of the road, they try to violate traffic rules – particularly one way.'

He added: 'Impact has been quite good. A lot of people when they see from a little distance, they immediately turn back. In fact one auto driver was found talking to that person.'

But no matter how successful the cutouts prove to be, police bosses plan to replace them with real officers in the long term.

Watchful eye: The cutouts have had a positive reaction from drivers who believed they were real

Temporary measures: Police bosses plan to replace the cutouts with real officers in the long term

Drivers have welcomed the cutouts. One motorist said: 'It’s good. From a distance it looks like a real cop.' Another added: 'Two or three times we thought it was a real policeman standing there and we slowed down.' Bangalore, known as India's Silicon Valley because it is home to many IT companies, is not the first to see such crime fighting tactics deployed. In China, plastic cutouts which look like the back of a police car are placed on the roads, with signs such as 'currently measuring speed' written across them.

Dangerous: Bangalore, home to 8.5 million people, has two deaths every day on its busy roads

Cardboard cutout: A fake Greater Manchester Police officer guards an aisle at an Asda in Leigh

Cardboard cutouts of police officers have also been used in Britain, with figures revealing some forces have spent more than £10,000 on 80 of the decoys.

Last year, a constable cutout at Asda in Leigh, Greater Manchester, was claimed to have reduced shoplifting by 75 per cent.

The cutout is moved around the store throughout the day, to given the impression that the officer is on patrol.

Unwitting customers have even spotted trying to chat to the PC before realising he was a fake.



