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Activist Post
Residents in Josephine County Oregon have taken matters into their own hands, in light of recent police department budget cuts and started their own community protection services to pick up the slack. The population is small, but there is still a lot of ground to cover, the county is larger than the state of Rhode Island.
According to the Associated Press:
Separately, a retired sheriff’s deputy in a community about 10 miles away has started a Facebook page called “to catch a thief”, an open group that has nearly 1,200 members who post reports of crimes that aren’t priorities for the county sheriff’s office.
Since the patrols started a few months ago, group members have reported a wildfire being set and someone trying to break into an SUV. The police log in the Grants Pass Daily Courier shows five thefts or burglaries in O’Brien from January through July, but none since August. Many people in the community have said that they prefer things this way and don’t think that the police would do a better job, even with more resources.
Unfortunately, these community protection groups are still working within the framework of state and federal law in one way or another, sometimes even enforcing unjust laws where there is no victim, so it is true that these groups are far from perfect. However, regardless of the specifics, this situation shows us that it is possible for people to stand up and protect their own communities without an all powerful state gang totally monopolizing such a vital public service.
It is a commonly known economic fact that monopolies make for high prices and low quality, since a monopoly is guaranteed payment regardless of service quality, as they are the only show in town. Yet we allow massive coercive monopolies to manage the most vital aspects of our society and our personal lives. Opening up these vital areas to competition by allowing members of the community to provide these services voluntarily would naturally encourage the kind of behavior that the community demanded.
As I have wrote about before, monopolies encourage nefarious behavior, especially when that monopoly is given a license to use violence on others without consequence. This is the problem with the TSA and this is also why we see such authoritarian attitudes from police across the country as well. If the police in your district are corrupt, it’s not like you can stop patronizing them and search for another security provider. However, in areas that the police completely neglect, citizens are able to take matters into their own hands and provide security for their community.
This phenomena is not specific to this particular situation in rural Oregon, it has happened to a great degree in one of the nation’s most dangerous cities, Detroit. In Detroit the cops are absolutely worthless and corrupt, so the community fully understands that they cannot be counted on for protection. To counter this problem, citizens have created their own security companies who are actually concerned with making the community safer, instead of just generating revenue. Sure they are still making a profit, but they are making a profit by providing a need in the community and receiving voluntary payments, not through extortion and exploiting nonviolent “law breakers”.
The bottom line is, everything that a bureaucracy does can be done far better and cheaper by people who are dependent upon community support for their economic survival. Additionally, as we see in Oregon, volunteers can fill this role just as well as entrepreneurs, setting aside worries that the poor wouldn’t have access to security in the absence of top-down law enforcement.
J.G. Vibes is the author of an 87 chapter counter culture textbook called Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance and host of a show called Voluntary Hippie Radio. He is also an artist with an established record label and event promotion company that hosts politically charged electronic dance music events. You can keep up with his work, which includes free podcasts, free e-books & free audiobooks at his website www.aotmr.com.
Residents in Josephine County Oregon have taken matters into their own hands, in light of recent police department budget cuts and started their own community protection services to pick up the slack. The population is small, but there is still a lot of ground to cover, the county is larger than the state of Rhode Island.
According to the Associated Press:
Josephine County, population about 83,000, recently lost $12 million in federal timber county subsidies. The jail, sheriff’s patrols, prosecutors, probation officers and juvenile programs have all been drastically cut. The lockup has room for 69 inmates — only enough space for the worst offenders. As a result, theft and burglary suspects are regularly turned loose, only to be picked up later for new crimes.To fill the void that was left behind from the county’s incompetent police department a retired marina manager named Sam Nichols has organized a volunteer protection service called CAC Patrol, or Citizens Against Crime. The organization consists of about a dozen fed-up residents who started out by patrolling the small community of O’Brien, which has about 750 residents, and then they expanded into surrounding areas.
Separately, a retired sheriff’s deputy in a community about 10 miles away has started a Facebook page called “to catch a thief”, an open group that has nearly 1,200 members who post reports of crimes that aren’t priorities for the county sheriff’s office.
Since the patrols started a few months ago, group members have reported a wildfire being set and someone trying to break into an SUV. The police log in the Grants Pass Daily Courier shows five thefts or burglaries in O’Brien from January through July, but none since August. Many people in the community have said that they prefer things this way and don’t think that the police would do a better job, even with more resources.
Unfortunately, these community protection groups are still working within the framework of state and federal law in one way or another, sometimes even enforcing unjust laws where there is no victim, so it is true that these groups are far from perfect. However, regardless of the specifics, this situation shows us that it is possible for people to stand up and protect their own communities without an all powerful state gang totally monopolizing such a vital public service.
It is a commonly known economic fact that monopolies make for high prices and low quality, since a monopoly is guaranteed payment regardless of service quality, as they are the only show in town. Yet we allow massive coercive monopolies to manage the most vital aspects of our society and our personal lives. Opening up these vital areas to competition by allowing members of the community to provide these services voluntarily would naturally encourage the kind of behavior that the community demanded.
As I have wrote about before, monopolies encourage nefarious behavior, especially when that monopoly is given a license to use violence on others without consequence. This is the problem with the TSA and this is also why we see such authoritarian attitudes from police across the country as well. If the police in your district are corrupt, it’s not like you can stop patronizing them and search for another security provider. However, in areas that the police completely neglect, citizens are able to take matters into their own hands and provide security for their community. This phenomena is not specific to this particular situation in rural Oregon, it has happened to a great degree in one of the nation’s most dangerous cities, Detroit. In Detroit the cops are absolutely worthless and corrupt, so the community fully understands that they cannot be counted on for protection. To counter this problem, citizens have created their own security companies who are actually concerned with making the community safer, instead of just generating revenue. Sure they are still making a profit, but they are making a profit by providing a need in the community and receiving voluntary payments, not through extortion and exploiting nonviolent “law breakers”.
The bottom line is, everything that a bureaucracy does can be done far better and cheaper by people who are dependent upon community support for their economic survival. Additionally, as we see in Oregon, volunteers can fill this role just as well as entrepreneurs, setting aside worries that the poor wouldn’t have access to security in the absence of top-down law enforcement.
J.G. Vibes is the author of an 87 chapter counter culture textbook called Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance and host of a show called Voluntary Hippie Radio. He is also an artist with an established record label and event promotion company that hosts politically charged electronic dance music events. You can keep up with his work, which includes free podcasts, free e-books & free audiobooks at his website www.aotmr.com.
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6 comments:
In the 1850s the San Francisco PD went on strike so the city's mercharts got the state law changed so that they could hire sworn officers (called 'police specials') via private security companies to protect their commecial and residential properties.These are still around today and they don't write tickets on their employers!
In PA, we have volunteer firefighters. They are paid nothing, yet still provide an essential service to their community. I believe this should be applied to "law-enforcement" personnel. In many areas of the country, mainly small communities, these areas have completely eradicated their police force and taken up the responsibility themselves. I believe we will be seeing more instances of these communities coming together to protect their own interests once the degradation of the dollar becomes more imminent.
Now J.G., I know you are an advocate for the non-aggression principle; but when it comes down to it when people carry and own firearms criminals are less likely to become prevalent. This is an interesting paradox. I personally believe, advocate, even exercise personal protection. I believe a well-armed society is a well-protected society.
The problem here is that of your legal protection against being sued for laying violent hands on (someone who you think is) a criminal.
Police are automatically shielded from being personally sued by those they arrest, by their status as "peace officer". Without that status, the criminal you shoot or tackle or bludgeon during what you believe to be a well-deserved arrest, can sue you at the law for all sorts of things. This applies in spades to whipping out your beloved concealed handgun when some punk tries to take out the local 7/11. When the cops (finally) arrive, you will probably be arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, handcuffed, and taken to jail in the same paddy wagon as your victims. Beware of being caught up by the excitement of the moment and getting yourself a felony conviction that will last you all your life.
Police are not automatically shielded from being sued. There have been cases all around the country involving lawsuits against police. And again lawful citizens carrying concealed firearms or open carry have thwarted many incidents of criminal activity. Those people are often regarded as heroes, as they rightfully should. Those only reason the police would have to arrest an individual is if they are carrying concealed without a permit or carrying openly in a non-carry state.
THANK you, Ketabyte!
This is an inspiring story, AP. This is exactly what the country needs- more communities standing up and taking back their pride.
We're going to see a cumulative effect which was probably not really intended-- people getting to know their neighbors in a way which we haven't seen in decades.
We can live like a real community again instead of looking past and through one another.
Dear "Ketabyte":
A policeman going about his ordinary duties in a manner consistent with his official training, might be sued, but will almost never be convicted,and will never pay a dime in legal fees. The State, County, TWP etc. might lose the Case, and need to pay a fine or judgement, but the individual policeman will never pay a cent. You - on the other hand, since you are a private citizen like the robber - are totally liable under the law for whatever goes down. Say a 7/11 is being robbed, but no shots have yet been fired. You are there, and decide to be a hero. Pulling your trusty Glock, you aim at the robber and instead, nail the clerk right between the eyes.
Now let's make believe that - instead of you, a cop was there as a result of somebody's hurried cellphone call. The cop races in, pulls his trusty Glock and - just like you -nails the clerk right between the eyes.
That cop may be sued by the clerk's family, but he himself will never pay a cent (although his department may, depending on the jury)because he was; (1.)trying his best, (2.) had been trained and graduated from an approved police academy,(3.) was a sworn police officer; etc. etc.
You - on the other hand, are just a private citizen, even if you plead "citizen's arrest" - and must provide your own legal defense, against both the robber AND the local District Attorney, who may be up for re-election. You will be pilloried by the local press as being a poor shot,a racist, you will be brought before a Grand Jury and arrested by the local DA for aggrevated manslaughter, you will be sued by the clerk's family for the $100mm that she would have brought home in salary over the course of her lifetime, various 7/11 bystanders will chime in with their own lawsuits for money damages resulting from the panic attacks they are having at night due to your reckless actions, etc.
Every one of these legal actions must be fought by your lawyers, or you will be found guilty of each one of them!
The policeman, on the other hand, doesn't have to pay a cent in legal fees. He is protected by the law from this. His department may pay, but he will not.
You, on the other hand,will permanently lose your right to own a gun. You will pay tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees just to keep out of jail. (Your lawyer will want cash up front for defending you). Plus, you will probably be required to make substantial monthly payments to the clerk's family and others for the rest of your life. Remember NYC and the famous Bernie Goetz case where the little electrician shot four hulking muggers on the subway after they threatened him with sharpened screwdrivers? He permanently crippled one mugger with his (illegal) handgun, spent years in jail, and died owing that kid in a wheelchair over $4.0mm in damages.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Goetz
Think twice before you be a hero. This ain't the movies, son.
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