In my hometown of Mobile, AL, we have growing litter problem in our streets, sidewalks, parks, etc. City leaders have tried to appeal to people’s pride in the city to help with the litter problem in the past. That didn’t work. They tried “Litter Pickup Day” downtown. That didn’t fare too well either. Entire Boy Scout troops have spent many a Saturday just picking up litter downtown. But, it seems by Monday morning, the same amount of litter was lying in the streets.

Enter the 8-foot-tall cardboard cops informing litterbugs how much of a fine they will pay, if caught, that are popping up around the city now in an attempt to bring the litter problem under control. So far, 6 signs have been placed strategically around the most traffic congested parts of the city. Each sign cost $200.00, which seems a bit excessive to me. How long will it be before people steal these things to show off as a trophy to friends? Probably not too long. There have been cardboard cops with radar guns for years. I admit, they startled me the first time I saw them. After a while, I ignored them until I realized REAL cops had taken their place one day. Revenue for the city of Mobile must have jumped 200% that day. Those cardboard cop/radar gun cutouts disappeared fairly quickly. I’m not sure if it they were taken down due to being ineffective, to trick speeders with the real thing (as mentioned above) or if they are just sitting in someone’s basement to provide laughter to the illegal owners. I suspect these new cardboard cops will have about as much effectiveness as their predecessors.

There’s no word on whether the cardboard cops get cardboard doughnut breaks.