Ferguson, Missouri: Urban Versus Suburban Fear of Law Enforcement
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Government using law enforcement to fund itself is a far larger problem than police brutality
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The grand jury’s decision to not indict Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson for shooting unarmed Michael Brown has re-kindled the usual discussion about race-relations in this country. But a larger discomfort with the police powers of government brews not too far below.
From the militarization of police departments to forfeiture laws that federal, state and local governments use and abuse, people at all levels of society have learned both to question as well as fear government’s motivations. To wit, while many in urban settings fear being physically roughed up, those in suburbia have another fear: the assault on our wallets.
Does your local police take credit card?
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Peace officers, as police are technically called, have been corrupted by politicians and converted into revenue officers; taxmen by a different name and method, with guns and ticket books. This is due, in large part, to the gargantuan growth of government caused by politicians.
No thinking person can claim that when an officer hands out a citation for something as benign as a light being out or not using wind-shield wipers or lights when it is drizzling, it is not in their mind that they are feeding the system, with other people’s money, that supports them. I always like to joke that you know you’re in trouble when you are pulled over by a policeman and the first things he says is “Do you know how underfunded my pension is?” This is why some years back Planet Jersey passed a law outlawing ticket quotas for police, as if such culture could be outlawed. It would probably make Henry Ford’s and the politicians’ of a century ago eyes bulge for them to see what a government revenue (wealth transfer) source the automobile has become.
While not as egregious as unwarranted physical assault, the confiscation of people’s property under the guise of public safety to the political class and well-connected (read: government-worker unions and their members) is also an attack on personal liberty, albeit not as publicized as police brutality which is thankfully far rarer and not institutionalized like law enforcement revenue enhancement.
-I.M. Windee
