Good News?

There's little doubt that public sector compensation and staffing levels are too high. That said, there will be costs involved in correcting the situation. While taxpayers stand to benefit, for example, from the cuts highlighted in the following post at EconomicPolicyJournal.com, "It's Done: Oakland Fires 80 Police Officers...," there's a good chance that many will lose out in other ways. Aside from the fallout associated with the "broken window theory," people will have to shell out more money for security-related services and adjust behavior and attitudes in ways that might leave them feeling worse off than before.

Because of budget problems.

Below are the list of "small" crimes the police will now officially not respond to in person. Victims will instead be asked to fill out forms over the internet. The crimes include:

• burglary
• theft
• embezzlement
• grand theft
• grand theft:dog
• identity theft
• false information to peace officer
• required to register as sex or arson offender
• dump waste or offensive matter
• discard appliance with lock
• loud music
• possess forged notes
• pass fictitious check
• obtain money by false voucher
• fraudulent use of access cards
• stolen license plate
• embezzlement by an employee (over $ 400)
• extortion
• attempted extortion
• false personification of other
• injure telephone/ power line
• interfere with power line
• unauthorized cable tv connection
• vandalism
• administer/expose poison to another's

Obviously, it's time for protection to be privatized away from government.

Comments

[kwark]

So we'll just make it official - only the well-healed will receive decent policing. Just like before.

[Jack]

Police, army and courts are the primary role of Government.
These should be the last things to be cut. After welfare, health, education, cash for clunkers, home buyers grant, etc etc.

[sharonsj]

Privatize the police and firemen? Are you nuts? We had that a century ago, where if you were poor and couldn't pay the firemen your house, belongings, family, animals--it all was allowed to burn.

If you bothered to find out how privatizing other areas has worked out, you'd learn it hasn't worked at all--it's just another way for the rich to fuck the poor.

Our government would work if the lousy politicians did their job and watched out for the nation, not just the biggest richest corporations with the most bribe money.

[Blurtman]

Blackwater is putting in a bid.

[dsawy]

There is a mistaken assumption among Americans that the police are there to protect you.

They are not. The function of police is to enforce laws. The courts have ruled (repeatedly) that the individual cannot make any assumption of protection from the Police. Want to read a particularly definitive case on this? Read up on Warren v. DC:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9108468254125174344&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr

You have no guarantee of "protection" from criminals by the state. Period. This lie was sold to the American public from WWII to the late 60's, and then when people actually took the government at their word and took the issue into court, the people lost - again and again, in state courts, in state supreme courts, in circuit courts. The issue is now closed and well-decided case law. Police do not protect you, the individual, and you, the individual have NO expectation of police protection other than when you are under arrest and unable to defend yourself.

If you want "protection," I would suggest you make your own plans. If you want laws enforced, then you call the police. For those who are still a little unclear on the point I'm making:

A cop who shows up too late to prevent someone from murdering you, but who was there to apprehend your murderer, has completely fulfilled his job per the courts.

As for fire protection: A lot of us in the US live within areas protected by volunteer firemen. We make donations of time, labor and money to our protection districts, and we get along just fine with this level of protection. No private profit motive, no public employees or pensions. The public is asked only for contributions towards the purchase of capital equipment like land, buildings, equipment and the like. Similar models have worked in the past with law enforcement and sheriff's volunteers. The trouble is, the public employee unions have created a forest of "credentials" that they want volunteers to have to perform functions that don't need PhD's. It doesn't take a PhD in fire science to put out single or two-story structure fires, for example. It doesn't take much training to put out basic brush fires, either. Yet, to protect their pensions and jobs, the public employees continue to ratchet up the "qualifications" necessary to perform their functions to haze volunteers out of volunteering.

The public needs to wake up to the breadth and scope of the public employee scams.

[Fed up Taxpayer]

It does not make sense to pay a cop in Oakland, or any other city, $120,000-$200,000. in salary,overtime, and benefits, to sit behind a desk and shuffle paperwork.
You can hire a clerk at $60,000. a year, and free the cops up to do some real police work.
City of San Carlos, Ca. discoverd that they can save $500,000. a year just by having private companies cut the grass in public parks and playground, rather than hiring
"groundskeepers"

[Stacey Burke]

Very informative post! Thanks and keep them coming!

[mountainaires]

Privatizing Protection? That's an alarming proposition! I see Blackwater/Xe roaming the streets, tasers working overtime on victims, SWAT teams running amok (worse than now!) and other nightmarish scenes. Cut pay to reasonable levels; fight the public unions tooth and nail. But privatized security is a big FAIL in my book; it always costs MORE, not less.Privatized water systems have failed so badly that many municipalities are ridding themselves of these meddlesome pests and going back to locally run public systems. Privatized police will end up the same way, only we'll all suffer until we learn that lesson, too. Sheesh. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. No. Privatized security is not the answer!

[Blurtman]

Cue the Robocop movie series.

[Beleck]

and you consider this "Good News?" wow