How Privatizing the Police Could Work
Hello there again readers, and welcome back to Coffee Break Liberty, a blog where we tackle books, news, and many other things under the sun where liberty is a guiding principle. If this is your first time here we would like to extend a special warm welcome to you, and hope you enjoy yourself while here.
Sadly another police killing has grabbed the nations attention. Video of Mr. Floyd losing his life at the hand of police is simply appalling. This is being written just three days after the incident so we don’t wanna get too much into what we do and do not know. The bottom line of what we do know though is that a man was killed by police while he was on the ground and already handcuffed. What we want to discuss in this post though is perhaps a solution to this kind of problem in the future, one that involves little to no government but rather private parties and contracts. Simply put, privatized policing.
The idea might be a bit foreign to some or might even bring up images of the Pinkerton’s or the mafia. That is not what we are talking about though. This solution acts a bit differently. To try and break it down, a consumer will want to insure their home for example and the belongings in it. Right now those protect it are the police. Well if the police departments were disbanded the insurance companies would still want those items in your home protected as they would not want to pay out on them if they were stolen. Now this is assuming the owner of said home and items doesn’t do anything else to protect his belongings, of course that wouldn’t always be the case. So much like the insurance you pay now to have the protection against future loss along with that would be actual protection. You would also have reason to pay less taxes in the process as the police departments would no longer be needed.
We are not trying to suggest that there would be a security guard from the insurance company at your home all the time to ensure your belongings were kept safe. What is envisioned here isn’t much different perhaps with insurance guards (not sure what to call these made up positions yet) on patrol, rather than police, in certain neighborhoods and on the streets. Envision that you and 20 of your neighbors go in on a group deal or whatever. You would probably see a guard in your neighborhood a lot more often. The idea isn’t that far fetched, though it may seem that way. Some gated communities today already have security guards on patrol.
Of course, this is all in theory right? But there is one thing that would certainly get better. Being able to hold these firms accountable for transgressions. With the recent case going on in Minneapolis we will see a trail and regardless of the outcome it will be the taxpayer that ends up foot the financial bill. Were the same case to happen with an insurance company, that firm would have been on the hook. We totally get it, money isn’t the issue here, a man’s life was taken. That said, if the firm is going to be held responsible we would have to think that the firms would train their people far better when compared to your current police. The insurance companies, in the end, have to answer to investors, they will want to please them with a great product and a great bottom line. To ensure this bottom line the insurance company will take better care to ensure they don’t get sued. These firms would want to make money and not lose it, spending lots of time in court being sued is a quick way to go bankrupt. The idea being that extra precautions would be taken when dealing with members of the public. Not what seems to be the current standard set by some law enforcement, treat the public poorly and violently.
We don’t have all the answers or solutions here at CBL. That is one of the things about being a libertarian, we are humble enough to say, “We don’t know how to run your life, that should be left up to you.” Central planners on the other hand don’t think this way. The central planners believe they know how to run your life better and create government institutions to do it. These government institutions operate on power and oppression. They aren’t answerable to anyone and operate with impunity. It was government institutions that caused the death of Mr. Floyd in the end. It’s time to reconsider their importance and need if there is any. How can we sell our freedom so cheaply?
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Keep that coffee warm for us
LWS
