“Corporate America is using police forces as their mercenaries.”—Ray Lewis, Retired Philadelphia Police CaptainIt’s one thing to know and exercise your rights when a police officer pulls you over, but what rights do you have when a private cop—entrusted with all of the powers of a government cop but not held to the same legal standards—pulls you over and subjects you to a stop-and-frisk or, worse, causes you to “disappear” into a Gitmo-esque detention center not unlike the one employed by Chicago police at Homan Square?
For that matter, how do you even begin to know who you’re dealing with, given that these private cops often wear police uniforms, carry police-grade weapons, and perform many of the same duties as public cops, including carrying out SWAT team raids, issuing tickets and firing their weapons.
This is the growing dilemma we now face as private police officers outnumber public officers (more than two to one), and the corporate elite transforms the face of policing in America into a privatized affair that operates beyond the reach of the Fourth Amendment.
Mind you, it’s not as if we had many rights to speak of, anyhow.
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I would MUCH rather deal with private police "mercenaries" than "sworn officers". At least with the mercs I have SOME rights. I have none at all with the state and local officers. Corporate police and private companies have significantly more restrictions on their power than government equivelents and the courts are much less lenient when they stray outside the boundaries.
ReplyDeleteI see this sort of argument all the time, mostly made by union goons who are against any form of privitization. The fact is that private security guards have been in existence since long before our country was formed and are efficient and effective. It is traditionally the government badged services that are known for corruption, abuse of power, and trampling of civil rights. The airport security were a LOT less intrusive, corrupt, and arogant before we put the TSA badge on them.
Morally, there is absolutely no diference between them. They BOTH get paid and it is a cheap shot at character assassination to point at the guys getting paid less for the same job and call THEM mercenaries. The fact is, in America, we pay the people who work for us. funneling that money through corporations or through government is irrelevant.
private police
DeleteI've never had any dealings with them.
They all have identification regardless of status and that includes badges and shoulder patches. I would rather deal with private than public officers. Private officers violating law are much easier to put out of business. Try putting government out of business.
ReplyDeleteTry putting government out of business.
DeleteThat's a mouth full. :)
Private po po....all the abuse and criminality of official po po.....none of the financial and PR liability. What's not to like. Not difficult to insure that the only people receiving this official authority are sociopaths who will gladly abuse their authority in service to the dollar.....dollars that ultimately comes from taxpayers.
ReplyDeleteNot difficult to insure that the only people receiving this official authority are sociopaths who will gladly abuse their authority in service to the dollar.
DeleteUseful fools. all.
These mercenaries are probably owned and operated by Blackwater. What's the
ReplyDeleteBlackwater owner's name, Prince. No telling how many mercenaries work for him.
He is worth billions.
Strange name.
Delete