Arrests are way down because NYPD officers have decided to arrest people only when they have to. Were starting to see what a lot of police work has become: backdoor taxation. Police officers do the dirty work of collecting revenue for cities and states — typically preying on poor people, often people of color — so politicians dont have to raise taxes. NYC takes in more than half a billion a year in parking tickets alone — let alone moving violations and minor criminal offenses. This is something liberals and conservatives should agree on. Less policing people, the better. Conservatives tend to think of the federal government as an albatross around a free countrys neck, as it probably is to some degree, but I think cops whose overtime hours depend on writing lots of traffic tickets or arresting people for drug possession is a much more palpable threat to freedom for most people.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 05:28:52 +0000