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How Ferguson Highlights the Dangers of For-Profit Policing
Slate ^ | 8/18 | Jordan Weissmann

Posted on 08/20/2014 2:48:12 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Jeff Smith, a New School professor and former Missouri state senator, had a sensational op-ed in this weekend’s New York Times that dived into the economic forces that have helped shape the strife in Ferguson. His big point is that the local police have a strong financial incentive to arrest, ticket, and otherwise harass the city’s black residents for minor offenses, because that’s how the department funds its budget.

How so? From Smith:

St. Louis County contains 90 municipalities, most with their own city hall and police force. Many rely on revenue generated from traffic tickets and related fines. According to a study by the St. Louis nonprofit Better Together, Ferguson receives nearly one-quarter of its revenue from court fees; for some surrounding towns it approaches 50 percent.

Municipal reliance on revenue generated from traffic stops adds pressure to make more of them. One town, Sycamore Hills, has stationed a radar-gun-wielding police officer on its 250-foot northbound stretch of Interstate.

(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
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To: Jim Robinson

“It’s incredibly simple to protest but NOT riot, loot and burn.”

Actually, that’s not the case. The vast majority of arrests were outsiders not locals. They’re here to riot for profit and/or for politics. If they think you’re going to stage a protest they’ll show up in droves to manufacture their next opportunity for anarchy and profit. Peaceful protest is not part of their game plan.


21 posted on 08/20/2014 3:36:05 PM PDT by Gen.Blather
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To: Gen.Blather

Including the first night of rioting, looting and burning?


22 posted on 08/20/2014 3:42:08 PM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: nickcarraway

The cause of ferguson is a legitimate shooting in self defense (much like the trayvon martin case) was turned into a lynching lie about a white cop— by agenda driven media zealots.

then black criminals used it as an excuse to destroy and steal things, And black “leaders” used it as a means to spread hate and lies.

That’s what happened, that’s what went wrong, not these other distractions.


23 posted on 08/20/2014 3:46:28 PM PDT by Cubs Fan (If you're on the same side of Ferguson as Al and Jesse, then you F-ed up somewhere. Rethink it dummy)
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To: nickcarraway

Just when you think the leftist racists have scraped the bottom of the sewer tank clean they come up with a new mouthful.


24 posted on 08/20/2014 4:08:07 PM PDT by Iron Munro (Why Obama's sons are like sperm: Only one in a million work.)
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To: nickcarraway

“According to a study by the St. Louis nonprofit Better Together, Ferguson receives nearly one-quarter of its revenue from court fees; for some surrounding towns it approaches 50 percent.”

That completely blows up his thesis. As a percentage, Ferguson gets only half as much as some surrounding towns. That makes Ferguson a terrible example. Liberals are idiots.


25 posted on 08/20/2014 4:18:50 PM PDT by cdcdawg
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To: nickcarraway

The only solution is to dissolve all forms of local government and have a single end-all central government.


26 posted on 08/20/2014 4:21:19 PM PDT by pointsal
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To: nickcarraway

ping


27 posted on 08/20/2014 4:41:24 PM PDT by maine yankee (I got my Governor at 'Marden's')
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To: nickcarraway

More like the danger of for-profit race baiting.


28 posted on 08/20/2014 4:48:58 PM PDT by Maceman
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To: Abathar; Abcdefg; Abram; Abundy; albertp; Alexander Rubin; Allosaurs_r_us; amchugh; ...
Let's face it...revenue enhancement policing harasses ALL OF US - regardless of color, religion, etc...



Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!

29 posted on 08/20/2014 4:56:41 PM PDT by bamahead (Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master. -- Sallust)
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To: mrsmith
I think it’s good to collect law enforcement costs from law breakers than the law abiding, though it can go too far.

“Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.” ― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

30 posted on 08/20/2014 5:08:44 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("The man who damns money obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it earned it." --Ayn Rand)
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To: Jim Robinson

Yes, and I’m tired of people making up reasons why these criminals were angry. They look for excuses to loot and has nothing to do with any real grievance. They are thugs, pure and simple.


31 posted on 08/20/2014 8:46:11 PM PDT by Pining_4_TX (All those who were appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48)
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