shadow count

shadow count
 n.— «For the second year, New York added a method known as “the shadow count,” developed by Dr. Kim Hopper, a medical anthropologist at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in Orangeburg, N.Y. Each year, hundreds of students pose as “decoy” homeless and occupy assigned locations around the city. The percentage of decoys discovered helps to clarify how effective the street count has been.» —“ounting Them In” by Ben Fleming Resident (New York City) Feb. 20, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)