Privatized police force takes shape in Arizona

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The first steps towards a privatized police force have been taken in Mesa, Arizona. Nine civilian investigators have been appointed and are handling work normally reserved for uniformed officers.

The Mesa police department has lost about 80 uniformed positions over the past five years due to austerity cuts. The pay for the new hires is 30% to 40% lower than the starting salary for a uniformed officer.

Last year, the unit handled about 50% of all burglary calls, the police department says. They also deal with crime scene processing to fraud investigations. They are not obligated to respond to urgent calls from police dispatchers so the dangerous work is still being left to the regular cops.

Civilians are employed by police forces everywhere, but usually for fingerprint processing and DNA work. City mayors nationwide will be looking closely at the success or failure of this ‘policing on the cheap’ experiment in Arizona.

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith says says he hopes to expand the concept.

“It’s not just a money-saving thing,” he says. “I would love it if our fire-fighters concentrated on fighting fires.”

Private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, now, however small a number, on the streets of American cities.

 

First uniformed police in Des Moines, Iowa – The year 1878


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Holte Ender

Holte Ender will always try to see your point of view, but sometimes it is hard to stick his head that far up his @$$.
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11 years ago

[…] investigations, searches and seizures.  Inherently governmental function?  Not if you live in Arizona.  Or if your child goes to school […]

12 years ago

[…] If I’m burgled, beaten up, or otherwise in need of the police, I do not want to “choose” which private company will perform policing duties. […]

12 years ago

[…] San Diego Municipal Services: Managed Competition For-pay fire department lets man's house burn Privatized police force takes shape in Arizona The perverse incentives of private prisons Guess what! Any government employee working in a […]

bsranch
12 years ago

I think this is an ill-conceived and poorly thought through idea. The problems with this are so many they are overwhelming.
But he first two are who insures these people against lawsuits and what authority do they have?

12 years ago

British Police spend most of their time filling in incomprehensible paperwork…on the plus side…our Liberal elite introduced ‘Police Support’..aka…pretend police.

They can’t actually do anything as far as we know apart from ‘chat to local people’ and assure them everything is alright.

Will we ever wake up to the fact that our countries are being screwed over by liberal forces that want to change our very way of life????…and yes…I know most of you are liberals….oh dear…

Muslims can burn the British or American flag on our streets and nothing happens.

We say ‘Oi! Muzzies! Stop that!’ and we are arrested.

…and yes I chose Muzzies as an example..I could list hundreds without muzzies and I’d run out of commenting space…

We’re fucked and we don’t know it.

I’m so depressed I want to drink more voddy…WTF?? Won’t be any voddy the way it’s going over here…

Never mind…we can trust the ‘privatised police’ managers to do the right thing can’t we.

Can’t we?

Michael John Scott
Reply to  Four Dinners
12 years ago

I suspect the “privatized police managers” is something AZ might have in mind, although I’m not certain. I can see a place for civilians in LE if I think hard enough.

Sam M.
Reply to  Four Dinners
12 years ago

So….you’re saying that privately contracted police forces follow liberal ideology?

Because I certainly don’t know any liberals who’d think this sounds like a good idea. I can easily imagine conservatives not having a problem with it.

Also, your reference to flag burning is irrelevant and misguided, not to mention flat wrong. Nobody gets arrested for peacefully asking someone to stop burning a flag. It’s within citizens’ rights to burn flags, and it’s within their rights to protest flag burning. It’s not within citizens’ rights to be violent toward flag burners nor flag burner protesters. So what’s the problem?

Michael John Scott
12 years ago

Privatization of jails and prisons has proven itself to be a complete disaster. The privatization of police puts the affected communities at great risk. Civilian police will have little training and will not be screened to the extent that commissioned officers are screened. This is a dangerous practice that could end in disaster.

The fact is you get what you pay for. Do you want your life in the hands of a rent-a-cop? Not me. Now, if these rent-a-cops are limited to routine duties that don’t require anything beyond the ability to read, perhaps it will work. Let’s wait and see but personally speaking I don’t like the concept primarily because it sets a terrible precedent. What’s next? Uniformed officers recruited from the local Mall?

MM
12 years ago

A new idea- folks who aren’t properly trained doing jobs that they aren’t qualified for to protect folks.

First we have politicians, then news folks on FOX, now police folks. What’s next doctors or the military?

And I can’t wait to see what happens when one goes too far or not far enough- talk about law suits! No doubt the rich conservative attorneys who’ll handle the cases are salivating.

I took Arizona COMPLETELY off our list of vacation destinations. I think the hot dry air has friend their brains.

Victordlg
Reply to  Holte Ender
12 years ago

It already is happening with Doctors as you have PA’s out there doing most everything the MD does with the least amount of supervision.

Robert E. Lee
Reply to  Victordlg
12 years ago

You make a good point.

Michael John Scott
Reply to  MM
12 years ago

I’m with you MM and as Holte says glad you stopped by and we hope to see you again.

dp1053
12 years ago

I am surprised this hadn’t happened a long time ago. I’m sure there are many police jobs that could be handled by non-uniformed personnel. If it frees up uniformed cops to handle more street crimes, then I don’t see a problem with this.

nikolai
Reply to  Holte Ender
12 years ago

“I’ll buy that for a dollar!” Robocop

12 years ago

Didn’t 1930s Germany have a privitized police force?

Michael John Scott
Reply to  Leslie Parsley
12 years ago

Curiously Germany kept its state police force, but it was run (at one point) by Reich-minister Himmler, the boss of the SS. The Brown Shirts were little more than a mob, a HUGE mob, a small army in fact, that was loyal to Hitler. After the Night of the Long Knives, when Hitler and his close confidants personally took out the leaders and reassigned the rest to the SS, the Wehrmacht, and etc. The days of the Brown Shirts were over.

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