Should Callers Pay for Expensive Police Service?

Shire Media
#1

Originally published at: https://freekeene.com/2019/07/17/should-callers-pay-for-expensive-police-service/

There are tons of services that police provide: Elderly check-ins, noise complaints, damaged property, stolen purses, runaway children, etc. They all cost money, and for the most part, communities are happy to pay. Justice is something most people want, and so we pay a group of people to provide it.

But what happens when the cost is astronomical? Like, crazy. Like, incalculably high? So high, no one even knows the number? Is there anyone putting downward pressure on costs when it comes to service from the police, or do they have a blank check on the community bank account?

I ask because a woman in my town today called the police to remove her adult son, age 45, from her home. Criminal trespass. Totally legitimate complaint. I am happy to pay for that. If someone were trespassing on my property, and I was an old lady, hell, I would want some help from a group of young, well-trained guys, too.

The response from police was: 30 police officers, 2 SWAT teams, firefighters, blocking off the street— to kick a loafer from his mom’s home? You can’t put a price on officer safety, but even so, this was excessive.

I posted on Facebook about my concern about the cost, and a townsperson responded that in situations where a hiker gets lost and incurs a cost to local rescue, they get a bill. He proposed the same thing for cases like this. Not a bad idea.

What do you think? Should people be personally responsible for their expensive specialty police calls? How can a you ensure you are not on the hook for some wildly excessive service your neighbor requests? Should we all share the costs equally? How can we best ensure community safety while also staying within reasonable budgetary limits? Your thoughts welcome!

#2

Absolutely, maybe it would put a stop to frivolous calls, as well as innocent people being killed by jackbooted thugs. I also feel that if you want cops in your town or city you should be the one to pay for them. I never called the cops for any reason, why should I pay for them, beside when seconds count they are min’s away. They basically are clean crews. I will protect myself and loved ones.

So let’s just say for argument’ sake you want a police force. There should be a community counsel that would govern their actions, also make the police themselves liable for any wrong doing, like killing innocent people and family pets, not the tax payer. That would stop a lot of the misconduct currently taking place around the country. Police can not be above the agreed upon laws and are not better than the people they are supposed to serve.

Beside if you want to follow the constitution only sheriffs are allowed to police the community.

Vote them in and vote them out.

I could go on for days on the need or lack there of for police. If everyone followed these two principles, there would never be a need for a police force again…

Treat everyone the way you want to be treated and the non-aggression principle.

Rodney