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DaddySatyr -> RE: A Society Of Bystanders (12/30/2014 11:19:53 AM)
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Police departments are -in-and-of-themselves- a problematic idea, from the very beginning.
By-and-large, police departments were presented to us as the people that were going to make having our own protection obsolete because the policemen were going to keep us safe from crime. That's laughable, on its face.
Police departments have always been after-the-fact organizations which, primarily are charged with investigation and apprehension of criminals that have already committed their crimes. Under our system of justice, that makes sense. We can't have cops going around, rousting people because they might break the law.
Certainly, having a visible police presence will deter some crimes, at that particular moment but the bad guys will just ply their trade at a later time or in a different place (one of the reasons for crime, leaving the cities).
So, cops have never been able to "keep us safe". There's a fundamental disconnect with that kind of thinking. It can't be done.
Of course, there are always going to be some who insist that it is better for John Q. Citizen to just take his lumps from the bad guys and let the cops catch the bad guys. Most often, they don't get caught.
That brings us back to the idea of each one of us being responsible for our own safety and possibly for the safety of our neighbors. But, wait! We've already abdicated that ability at the behest of those knights in shiny (blue) armor.
Just remember: When that scumbag is holding a gun to your face, demanding money or when he's already got you tied up and is about rape your wife, seconds count. In those instances, the police are only minutes away. Good luck.
Michael
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