Thread

1. thinkcontext · 1790086576 · focus · HN ↗

   > Last week, the [state] agency sent a letter to the city notifying it that its five-member police department would be closed effective Sept. 18. Law enforcement duties will be transferred to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office until a permanent solution is found.

   > The agency said its investigation found the department failed to meet minimum standards and failed to provide sufficient evidence that it provided a "public benefit to the community." The department also failed to provide resources to its officers, including bulletproof vests and an evidence room.

   The US has many thousands of little law enforcement jurisdictions like this. The argument for it is local control but in practice you too often get situations like this one. Poor quality, abuses, corruption, good-old-boys network, lack of accountability, frequent unnecessary use of force, etc. Large police organizations are certainly not w/o problems but at this point there are accountability mechanisms and modern standards.

   The WaPo did an excellent article a few years ago looking at the fragmented LEO landscape

   "Most police departments in America are small. That’s partly why changing policing is difficult, experts say"

   <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.li&#x2F;05zA7" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.li&#x2F;05zA7

   1. jagged-chisel · 1790087754 · focus · HN ↗

      Given the size of the US, and the variety of local populations, I argue that local enforcement is necessary. Adherence to larger enforcement standards is also necessary. I fear that larger, “cohesive” enforcement runs the risk of bringing more political laws and regulations from other jurisdictions. No one wants to be subjected to some remote jurisdiction’s idea of “lawfulness” especially when religious ideals get mixed in.

      1. throw0101a · 1790425579 · focus · HN ↗

         &gt; Given the size of the US, and the variety of local populations, I argue that local enforcement is necessary. Adherence to larger enforcement standards is also necessary.

         In Canada, Ontario and Quebec have their own province-level police forces, but the rest of the provinces &#x27;contract&#x27; the RCMP to do street-level policing in many areas (with larger municipalities having their own forces). Part of the reason for this is that with any organization there&#x27;s overhead (training, HR, payroll&#x2F;pensions, etc), and for smaller communities a larger portion of a fixed budget would go to those things, so by leveraging the RCMP those fixed costs are amortized wider.

         In Ontario&#x2F;Quebec, many smaller communities use the OPP&#x2F;QPP for local policing (larger cities have their own forces) for the same reason.

         For the community in the article, is there a reason why the same 5 cops couldn&#x27;t become employees of the county&#x27;s force? For really small counties, it may be necessary &#x2F; useful to &#x27;contract&#x27; the state police to run a local detachment.

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