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All governments have a monopoly on force. A democratic government is supposed to have that monopoly by the consent of the people. If we are a democratic nation, then we have to accept the government's monopoly on force because we voted them in. If you disagree, you need to either vote against incumbents, or try to overthrow the government. Personally, I don't think I'm up to the task of being a revolutionary.
No one (at least, not yours truly) is speaking of revolution; I'm merely talking about being an engaged citizen in a constitutional republic.
Most of the job of law enforcement is to initiate force. Government agents are the only humans that are believed to have the right to initiate violence, so that's the monopoly on force. It's wrong for citizens to threaten or use force against anyone, but politicians, police, military, etc. are allowed to.
Can you delegate a right to someone that you don't have yourself? If citizens don't have the right to do it, how do they delegate that right to government officials?
We (revocably, we hope) delegate it to agents acting on our behalf to insure public order. The problem starts when those in whom we invest with such authority presume to tell us how we're going to be policed, as opposed to us telling them what we expect of them (and what we will not tolerate.) I'm not saying we've gotten there yet, but liberty is never lost but gradually.
Cops answer to politicians and the politicians are supposed to answer to us.
The cops aren't supposed to answer to politicians.
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Do you think the voters in Baltimore will vote out the mayor who is the boss of the chief of police who is the boss of those cops?
No. But thanks for being the first person to take the problem and move it a little further along. The problem is the police rarely being held accountable for their wrong actions but the reason they are rarely held accountable is our fault for not putting people in place that will see that they are.
That makes for a difficult job and one that IMO most politicians are too lazy to take on. Do I see politicians taking the actions in Baltimore that need done? (it needs done everywhere). No, I do not and the mayor will likely get re-elected. So while I have defended those upset and riot, once we get past that, we have to demand change and unless the people are willing to put their problems ahead of party, they will continue to get their heads bashed in.
The cops aren't supposed to answer to politicians.
No. But thanks for being the first person to take the problem and move it a little further along. The problem is the police rarely being held accountable for their wrong actions but the reason they are rarely held accountable is our fault for not putting people in place that will see that they are.
That makes for a difficult job and one that IMO most politicians are too lazy to take on. Do I see politicians taking the actions in Baltimore that need done? (it needs done everywhere). No, I do not and the mayor will likely get re-elected. So while I have defended those upset and riot, once we get past that, we have to demand change and unless the people are willing to put their problems ahead of party, they will continue to get their heads bashed in.
In the vast majority of cities, it works just like the Houston Police Department.
The HPD has a chief of police who is appointed by the Mayor Of Houston and confirmed by Houston City Council. The chief reports to the mayor, and the chief is essentially the top boss for all of HPD's officers.
If the top cop in Houston reports to the mayor, doesn't that mean the cops ultimately answer to the mayor, a politician?
How does it work in your city?
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