A Patriots Manifest Date May 19 2008
William White
That is trite because it is true. But it begs several questions. In simplest form policies have to be legally, politically, economically and technically possible. Take modern police work, I would argue that police in the form of Bobby Peel’s coppers are quickly becoming technologically obsolete.
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Police has the same root as policy as in those who love politics and sausage should not observe their making and police work is where the rubber meets the road with a vengeance for making policy. The purpose of police doing crime fighting is to make politics and policy more palatable to taxpayers. This is best done by keeping crime fighting out of sight because it ain‘t pretty. Unless you have ever pulled a period of SP duty or otherwise done police work you have no idea how insanely dangerous it is trying to subdue a drunk without killing or crippling hi m. (Unhappily just shooting the bad actor with say a 20 gauge load of rock salt is not permitted. Less lethal or disabling than tasers or rubber bullets when properly used with a thermal blanket to prevent death from shock, it is considered cruel and unusual punishment, perhaps because the screams of the perp can be heard for great distances.) Even when everything is done by the book immobilizing and cuffing a resisting suspect looks horrible to bystanders. Then there are all of those fictional cop shows that have unlimited information, 22nd century technology, black belts in 30 martial arts (by the way how does a 22 year old cop end up with 40 years of training?) and nothing but friendly cameras following the action. Between unfriendly cameras being everywhere and expectations raised above what is humanly possible how do modern police forces keep going?
Well they won’t for too much longer. While many solutions are possible the highest probability is a con tinuation of privatization of security. And the trendlines favor greater automation. Cameras in private hands already makes robbing convenience stores an adventure in stupidity. If the costs of cameras keep going down and the costs of obtaining other types of evidence follow along, not to mention their quality going up at what point do taxpayers decide that civil service police costs too much?
Here is where politics is becoming interesting: to taxpayers cops are a protective service to politicians they are policy enforcers who fight crime as a sideline. Specifically cops protect politicians from rioters who object to policies the politicians may have screwed up on. As to how this will be resolved I have not a clue. The bureaucratic state relies on the triple function civil police:
Crime fighting which is generally popular and is likely to go 90-95% private due to technological obsolescence.
Getting politicians reelected or at least not lynched.
< br>National security which while popular in theory is increasingly unpopular in practice due to such screw-ups as Waco, Ruby Ridge, the Patriot Act and similar ham-handed crap.
If the first function largely leaves the public sector how will the politicians raise the money to staff the other two functions? More importantly the unpopularity of such a praetorian guard will increase corruption beyond a sustainable limit. I have not a clue as to how resolve that problem.
The views expressed by William White are his and his alone and may not be the views expressed by A Patriots Manifest. Thank you .... Michael Roller...