New income streams that could be initiated by law enforcement

[Jesus Malverde]

A group of experts in the fields of city government, business, real estate, and entrepreneurship assembled in April 2008 to identify possible new income streams that could be initiated by law enforcement.2 Their suggested new revenue streams serve as an example of ideas that can be generated in a short period of time. Each idea must be weighed against the feasibility of implementation, profit potential, and appropriateness for law enforcement involvement. Their most prominent recommendations were

fees for sex offenders registering in a given jurisdiction,

city tow companies,

fine increases by 50 percent,

pay-per-call policing,

vacation house check fees,

public hours at police firing range for a fee,

police department-run online traffic school for minor traffic infractions,

department-based security service including home checks and monitoring of security cameras by police department,

a designated business to clean biological crime scenes,

state and court fees for all convicted felons returning to the community,

allowing agency name to be used for advertisement and branding,

triple driving-under-the-influence fines by the court,

resident fee similar to a utility tax,

tax or fee on all alcohol sold in the city,

tax or fee on all ammunition sold in, the city,

public safety fees on all new development in the city,

9-1-1 fee per use,

police department website with business advertisement for support,

selling ride-a-longs to the public, and

police department–run firearm safety classes.

http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&article_id=2108&issue_id=62010

[TerrapinFlyer]

1. "selling ride-a-longs to the public, and..."

and do I get to hold a gun too?

Cop-For-A Day is now only $199! 40 bullets included!

[arcane1]

2. "department-based security service" sounds a bit iffy to me

In fact, it sounds like "extra-special policing for those who can pay for it".

[F4lconF16]

3. Or maybe police shouldn't be in the business of generating revenue at all...

I vote we get rid of the police, spend the money on social programs, and see what happens.

[Travis_0004]

4. I doubt that would work out too well.

It might work ok in rural areas but would be a disaster in areas that are already high crime

[F4lconF16]

5. I wasn't entirely serious...

Kind of. I think that at some point in the future, the police will need to be removed. We will need to fix numerous other problems first, but I'd like to see it happen.

Go read the book "Our Enemies in Blue". It's a really good history of the formation of the police, and shows how they are and always have been a tool for the economic and political elite. They are meant to suppress dissension from a regime, not to protect the citizens. I think that is abundantly clear in this day and age--they go after the poor, and protect the rich. This is not open for debate; it is exceedingly well documented, and a lived experience by PoC for the last 200 years.

They need to be gone at some point. We need to explore other options--the development of organized police forces is relatively recent. I'm not sure exactly how to fix the problems that are there, but the police are inherently a tool against the masses. There are some interesting concepts like "transformative justice" that address possible options.

Remember, too, that if we fix many of our social ills through a replacement of our current economic system, much of what we "need" them for would be unnecessary. Also, surprisingly enough, we can actually function rather well without the police--the Seattle General Strike is one of my favorite examples, and the recent "slow down" by the NYPD demonstrated that rather well. The vast majority of their "law enforcement" is really just methodical targeting and harassment of the working class, and in particular, PoC.