4 ms·

Just think of the cost of such professional police forces for every state and county, including training, equipment etc.

brianbreslin 10y ago
In California, a police officer goes through 660 hours of training. A hair stylist/aesthetician goes through 1,600 hours of training before they get licensed.... http://beautyce.com/california-cosmetologists-putting-in-more-training-than-police-academy-recruits/ http://beautyce.com/california-cosmetologists-putting-in-mor...
TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
Compare to the cost to society of having daft pigs running around shooting people, and generally violating the rights of citizens. Or maybe I'm still angry from that time I got arrested for cycling on the footpath, or that other time the cops turned my house upside down and stole a $1000 from me and charged me with drug trafficking, all charges for which ended up getting dismissed. There are real reasons lots of people think the police are barely tolerable. It's high time the police were encouraged to act like professionals, and face the possibility of having their license to operate as an LEO revoked for misconduct rather than the present state of boys-club-protectionism.
- ComodoHacker 10y ago
  I can totally understand you. I lived in a country where things are far worse. False charges don't end up dismissed, people are sentenced to long prison terms, their health fatally undermined, families ruined, etc., etc. At first I was shocked than situation described in this topic is possible in US. I mean not just the raid against activist, but the level of corruption revealed by ExposeDAT. But let's face the sad truth: the cost to society of having professional, efficient and corruption-resistant police is unbearable too. At least for large country like US. It's comparable to cost of having professional, efficient and treason-resistant army, counted per one officer/soldier. But you need much more police officers than soldiers. You have to apply very strict selection and certification to ensure only most honest, incorruptible and motivated people are at service. You just won't find enough people, especially in economically depressed regions. This all doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't improve the situation, of course.
  - ahlatimer 10y ago
    > At least for large country like US. It's comparable to cost of having professional, efficient and treason-resistant army, counted per one officer/soldier. But you need much more police officers than soldiers. You could certainly argue that there ought to be more policy officers than soldiers, but the military is currently quite a bit larger. The projected number of active duty military members is 1,301,300, with an additional 811,000 in the reserves [1]. The sources for the number of policy officers were around 800,000-900,00. Wikipedia has it pegged at 809,308 for 2008 [2]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Armed_Forces https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Armed_Forces [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_number_of_police_officers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependen...
    - ComodoHacker 10y ago
      Wow, didn;t know that. Thanks for clarifying.
learc83 10y ago
Maybe when we end the war on drugs, we'll be able to drastically reduce the size of our police forces. If it weren't for perverse incentives turning every traffic stop into a potential drug hunt, we could move enforcement for minor traffic violations to much cheaper traffic officers without arrest powers. We could even automate most of it, so the traffic officers don't even have to pull people over except for imminent safety issues.
- madgar 10y ago
  If we end the war on drugs we'll HAVE to drastically reduce the size of our police forces. We won't be able to pay for them without Byrne funding and asset forfeiture. Let alone the pensions for all the retired police who worked when the drug war was in place.
  - hiram112 10y ago
    Which is exactly why the War on Drugs is so contested. Poll the population, and you'll get about 75% in agreement that it should be wound down or pivoted to a health issue. Even higher stats for the younger generations. However, you still get half the politicians talking tough on crime, drug punishments, etc. The reason: big campaign contributions from local and federal police agencies, DEA, prison guard unions, and the lawyers and courts that feed off its misery.
jwatte 10y ago
The societal net gain would likely be positive.

brianbreslin 10y ago

In California, a police officer goes through 660 hours of training. A hair stylist/aesthetician goes through 1,600 hours of training before they get licensed.... http://beautyce.com/california-cosmetologists-putting-in-more-training-than-police-academy-recruits/ http://beautyce.com/california-cosmetologists-putting-in-mor...

TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago

Compare to the cost to society of having daft pigs running around shooting people, and generally violating the rights of citizens. Or maybe I'm still angry from that time I got arrested for cycling on the footpath, or that other time the cops turned my house upside down and stole a $1000 from me and charged me with drug trafficking, all charges for which ended up getting dismissed. There are real reasons lots of people think the police are barely tolerable. It's high time the police were encouraged to act like professionals, and face the possibility of having their license to operate as an LEO revoked for misconduct rather than the present state of boys-club-protectionism.

ComodoHacker 10y ago
I can totally understand you. I lived in a country where things are far worse. False charges don't end up dismissed, people are sentenced to long prison terms, their health fatally undermined, families ruined, etc., etc. At first I was shocked than situation described in this topic is possible in US. I mean not just the raid against activist, but the level of corruption revealed by ExposeDAT. But let's face the sad truth: the cost to society of having professional, efficient and corruption-resistant police is unbearable too. At least for large country like US. It's comparable to cost of having professional, efficient and treason-resistant army, counted per one officer/soldier. But you need much more police officers than soldiers. You have to apply very strict selection and certification to ensure only most honest, incorruptible and motivated people are at service. You just won't find enough people, especially in economically depressed regions. This all doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't improve the situation, of course.
- ahlatimer 10y ago
  > At least for large country like US. It's comparable to cost of having professional, efficient and treason-resistant army, counted per one officer/soldier. But you need much more police officers than soldiers. You could certainly argue that there ought to be more policy officers than soldiers, but the military is currently quite a bit larger. The projected number of active duty military members is 1,301,300, with an additional 811,000 in the reserves [1]. The sources for the number of policy officers were around 800,000-900,00. Wikipedia has it pegged at 809,308 for 2008 [2]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Armed_Forces https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Armed_Forces [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_number_of_police_officers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependen...
  - ComodoHacker 10y ago
    Wow, didn;t know that. Thanks for clarifying.

learc83 10y ago

Maybe when we end the war on drugs, we'll be able to drastically reduce the size of our police forces. If it weren't for perverse incentives turning every traffic stop into a potential drug hunt, we could move enforcement for minor traffic violations to much cheaper traffic officers without arrest powers. We could even automate most of it, so the traffic officers don't even have to pull people over except for imminent safety issues.

madgar 10y ago
If we end the war on drugs we'll HAVE to drastically reduce the size of our police forces. We won't be able to pay for them without Byrne funding and asset forfeiture. Let alone the pensions for all the retired police who worked when the drug war was in place.
- hiram112 10y ago
  Which is exactly why the War on Drugs is so contested. Poll the population, and you'll get about 75% in agreement that it should be wound down or pivoted to a health issue. Even higher stats for the younger generations. However, you still get half the politicians talking tough on crime, drug punishments, etc. The reason: big campaign contributions from local and federal police agencies, DEA, prison guard unions, and the lawyers and courts that feed off its misery.

jwatte 10y ago

The societal net gain would likely be positive.