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Cardboard Cutout Is An Effective Police Officer

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And our last word in business could be considered a piece of art. It's a life-size cardboard cutout of a police officer - a very effective cardboard officer at that.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Yeah. At a subway and bus station in Cambridge, Massachusetts, transit police planted the cutout to watch over the bike racks. The faux officer's actually an image of the real transit officer. And you can see why people would think twice about taking off with the bike. The guy is pretty imposing.

MONTAGNE: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority says the cardboard cop, along with other security upgrades, including video cameras, has made a real difference. Bike thefts are down 67 percent.

GREENE: And it also helps that the cardboard guy doesn't ask for a paycheck or any benefits. An official says it will cost 200,000 bucks a year to have a real officer watching over the bike cage.

That's the business news on MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm David Greene.

MONTAGNE: And I'm Renee Montagne. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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