We guess we have to say, “good job,” though it kills us.

But it’s simply hard to argue with a program — even though it costs our friends a little money and some pride — that gets results. And boy does it get results.

About six months ago, Ames police started putting “Cops in Shops.” They dress a cop in plain clothes and place him or her as a regular Joe or Jane clerk in a store. Or sometimes they act like a regular Joe or Jane stranger outside a store who sells … can you guess? We bet you can: beer and other alcohol goodies.

Police used some grant money, about $10,000, to pay cops overtime cash to stay after work and ID a few college and high school kids.

And guess what? It works really, really well. Alcohol citations were up more than 50 percent in 1996, and the program was running for only part of the year.

In this case, Ames police seem to have the right idea. As police officials have said, the goal of the program is “to deter.” Or, if you want to be frank about it, the goal of the program is to scare underage people from trying to purchase alcohol with fake IDs or other tricky things.

And that’s — GULP — probably a good idea.

Sgt. Craig Reid of the Ames Police Department said it best. “You just never know if you’ll be arrested or not. You’ll never know,” he said.

As long as the focus of the program doesn’t shift to one of entrapment, or some fancy contest to see who can cite the most minors, Ames police appear to have hit on something that really works, and something that’s pretty fair.

After all, if you’re going to try to pull one over on the law, you’ve got to be prepared to face the consequences.