Despite my previous misgivings-well tuned they may be-towards pundits, I shall offer a solution towards a societal problem that I have no professional expertise in. Over the last several years, police have come under fire for numerous high-profile cases involving excessive use of force, along with growing radicalization within their ranks and the police force’s rapid militarization. My solution is simple; we move toward the privatization model.
Privatizing the police force will help reduce costs to the taxpayers. In a model where numerous private policing companies will have to undercut one another in order to secure a winning contract from a state or municipality, governments will be free to either allocate the funds elsewhere or to pass the savings along to the taxpayers. This bidding model is already used for numerous other government services, such as road work and ambulances-the latter often receiving no government money at all in many jurisdictions.
The cost-savings don’t end there. In the current officers-as-public-employees model, taxpayers are on the hook for expensive and guaranteed pensions, regardless of performance. The officer at the Parkland, Florida shooting and the officers in Uvalde, Texas will earn a publicly funded retirement in spite of their poor performance on the job. However, such guarantees do not exist in the private sector, and this will give the taxpayer a reason to rejoice. Cutting retirement payouts has already been discussed on the Senate floor for decades, so by no means is this a radical leap of argument faith.
For more mundane issues like traffic policing, automation can be implemented. Drones can be used to cut down on man-hours (and hence decrease wasteful spending) as well as reducing the risk to human officers by flying overhead and monitoring the speeds of motorists. This tactic is already used on the TransCanadian highway, so the implementation here in the US is certainly possible. Assuming the parameters are set correctly (this assumption is paramount), the automation of this task will take the subjectivity and racial bias out of the enforcement of traffic laws.
Racial bias can further be reduced by hiring foreigners on specialized work visas. Numerous business studies have shown that a diverse workplace can have a positive impact in reducing discrimination. There are no shortage of people willing to come to the United States and this can serve as a great opportunity for those who can pass their private employers physical and mental standards to gain citizenship. Furthermore, this is already a tactic employed by the military, so there should be no issue with porting this practice over to the police force.
Speaking of militarization, in an effort to keep costs down, use of militarized equipment on small-time drug traffickers and as YouTube pranks will be reduced significantly as the private sector companies will weigh carefully the cost-benefit analysis on deploying gas-guzzling armored carriers and pricy SWAT gear for tasks that don’t warrant their use. The fact that these specialized toys will not just be endlessly funded by the taxpayers will serve as a deterrent against their overuse, and hence bring down the use of needless force. In a similar vein, some private policing corporations may even opt for officers to carry less munitions with them during their patrols. This tactic has already been used by the Chicago police force during the Al Capone days, so historical precedent is already there.
Privatizing the police force will also have the benefit of improving the relationship between law enforcement and the community. This is because in this scenario, individual officers will be rated by the public on their job performance. Once an officer receives a below 4-star rating, they will no longer be able to don the uniform. This can be done with currently existing technology, a QR code in lieu of a badge will allow citizens to weigh in on an officer’s performance. The instantaneous rating of customer service representatives (lest we forget, this topic is on civil servants after all) is already a feature popularized by Uber. This mechanic would incentivize better behavior on the part of the officers.
However, the privatization model can benefit officers as well. The benefit being the joys of competing on the free market and the wage improvement the free market bears. Currently, the government has a monopoly on policing. As all monopolies do, the government depresses the wages of their employees, knowing that the risk of their departure is low. However, in a privatized model, the officer is free to apply for a job at another private policing corporation. This ensuing market will inevitably drive wages up for employees.
The best part about this idea is that it utilizes currently accepted models of economics and politics, i.e. I’ve only pitched practices that are already practiced in other fields and just merely suggested that policing give it a try. The technological solutions proposed uses, to quote Metal Gear Solid, currently existing technology. Frankly, there is no reason to not consider this model.
The final benefit to this idea is the inherent smugness it’s user (i.e. myself and anyone willing to take this libertarian leap with me) gets to lord over political-fueled detractors. Those on the political left who oppose this idea are rejecting a realistic and actionable plan for police reform; they need to stop being Diet Democrats. Those on the political right who oppose this idea support big, bloated government and the socialized police force; they need to stop being Diet Republicans.
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