America's private police force

What could be more American then a private police force? Private, hello? I thought Americans dig all that privatization stuff.

[GoldenRivet]

Originally Posted by OneToughHerring

What could be more American then a private police force? Private, hello? I thought Americans dig all that privatization stuff.

We dig private stuff... unless it is the privatization of a public sector.

road building, military, police force etc.

government is to be held accountable for these things, not some random private individual.

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

We dig private stuff... unless it is the privatization of a public sector.

road building, military, police force etc.

government is to be held accountable for these things, not some random private individual.

Yea well, we've been privatizing like hell here in Finland lately, seems like it's all been a big mess. Hasn't been the success that the conservative coalition party of Finland touted it would be.

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by OneToughHerring

Yea well, we've been privatizing like hell here in Finland lately, seems like it's all been a big mess. Hasn't been the success that the conservative coalition party of Finland touted it would be.

The problem is the benchmarks for both government and private companies.

In government, the result usually doesn't matter if you can spin it to make it seem positive.

In private companies, results don't usually matter if you can profit from it.

That's why I agree with privatization, mostly - and government regulation, in the cases that most directly affect the public business. Let the private companies use their approach to dollars and cents efficiency, while the government assures quality.

note the change in the logo and the ... well... Arabian music

Must increase holdings in companies selling tin foil.

[SteamWake]

In a loosely related story...

Police stop more than 1 million people on street

Police in major U.S. cities stop and question more than a million people each year - a sharply higher number than just a few years ago. Most are black and Hispanic men. Many are frisked, and nearly all are innocent of any crime, according to figures gathered by The Associated Press.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091008/D9B75TA02.html

[Dowly]

US police also tends to shoot their own K9's, after they've been ordered to attack the suspect by an drunk off-duty officer via phone.

[Shearwater]

Originally Posted by Aramike

The problem is the benchmarks for both government and private companies.

In government, the result usually doesn't matter if you can spin it to make it seem positive.

In private companies, results don't usually matter if you can profit from it.

That's why I agree with privatization, mostly - and government regulation, in the cases that most directly affect the public business. Let the private companies use their approach to dollars and cents efficiency, while the government assures quality.

I disagree.
State-owned business exists to do things that are necessary, but do not pay off financially. Thus, the first thing they have to do is to provide certain goods or services for which they, in a manner of speaking, receive state-funded compensation. Now I'm well aware that a lot can (or rather could) be improved (speaking as someone who regularly works in a company that was privatized not so long ago and still has its traces of stately slothfulness). In any case, they are to be considered effective if they can manage to do the things they are supposed while keeping expenses at a minimum.
Private business on the other hand is there to make money, and to that end everything else is secondary. People don't sell cars or pork bellies because they believe that doing so is inherently good, but because they simply want to make money. In order to do that, business has to be effective in a capitalist sense, which means maximizing profits (obvious of course, so I hope I don't sound too lecturing ).
Anyway, that's the way I see it.
That said, I simply cannot understand how on Earth a private police force could possibly work - I mean: How do they make money? Charging fees for every crime they prevent? If it's just about governmental outsourcing, it is still worse, not least because it introduces yet another layer of administration.

Originally Posted by Shearwater

That said, I simply cannot understand how on Earth a private police force could possibly work - I mean: How do they make money? Charging fees for every crime they prevent? If it's just about governmental outsourcing, it is still worse, not least because it introduces yet another layer of administration.

How does Blackwater or Triple Canopy make money? The way I see it a police force would be much less risky of an endeavour and might be a much more lucrative in the long run. It's about claiming territory from the public sector and when that territory has been once claimed by the private sector it will be very difficult if not impossible for the public sector to get it back.

[Shearwater]

Originally Posted by OneToughHerring

How does Blackwater or Triple Canopy make money? The way I see it a police force would be much less risky of an endeavour and might be a much more lucrative in the long run. It's about claiming territory from the public sector and when that territory has been once claimed by the private sector it will be very difficult if not impossible for the public sector to get it back.

Companies such as Blackwater operate in foreign territory, so even if they can't be controlled as tightly as the regular military, they're abroad at least. In the case of a private police force operating in the interior, there would be no such safeguard.
The state's monopoly on violence has been at the end of a lenghty political and philosophical struggle. More than money or 'efficiency' is at stake here.

[SS107.9MHz]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

We dig private stuff... unless it is the privatization of a public sector.

road building, military, police force etc.

government is to be held accountable for these things, not some random private individual.

Healthcare?! LOL