police

July 17, 2001

This article from AolNews took me a little by surprise. I knew that towns, and even whole states are feeling the financial crunch right now…but I had no idea that you could disband a town’s police force to save some money. It seems that San Luis, Colorado and various other towns are looking to cut costs by cutting out law enforcement.

Around the country…towns — large and small — are also eliminating their police departments. The Los Angeles suburb of Maywood, Calif., fired its officers, as did rural Bethel, Maine. Near Pittsburgh, Fallowfield, Pa., also voted to disband its police department.” – http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/penny-pinching-towns-put-police-out-to-pasture/19550879

It seems that the job of sheriff is going to take the place of full law enforcement in some places like it was back in the day. Although I’m sure many, including myself, would rejoice at a firing of a full police force, there’s a few things to take into account. One is, police are an important and necessary part of any town or city. We don’t live in a society where people can police themselves, know the difference between right and wrong, and are not afraid to stand up for their fellow-man. Until we do, it’s imperative that we have a police force. Yea, some of them are really, really fucked up, but not all of them. There has to be somebody you can call when shit gets bad.

On the other hand…police are expensive. And the bad cops are even more expensive (due to lawsuits and whatnot that arise from their actions). I can understand why some smaller towns would feel that it’s alright to get rid of them. Not so much for the larger places. In this country, when there’s a large enough gathering of people in one place…it’s definitely necessary to have some sort of law enforcement around, regardless of the cost.

See also: Bethel Votes To Disband Police Department

Thoughts?