Jun 30, 2011

No Cops; A Pilot Project in Texas

Having a little trouble with your city budget?  Fire all your cops as city bosses did in Alto, a community of about 1,200 in east Texas, roughly halfway between Dallas and Houston.

The Forbes writer who latched onto the story writes:

In the meantime, for protection against ne’er-do-wells, petty thieves and outright criminals, citizens of Alto will have to rely on the Cherokee County sheriff’s office, headquartered 12 miles away.


There is so much wrong with that, beginning with idiocy of policing the ne-ers.  If the five fired officers spent much time correcting Slim and Jake for idling away their days whittlin' on the court house lawn,  they weren't actually police, more like armed harassment agents for the  Calvinist class.


Then there's that strange distinction. Mr. Forbes-Writer, a petty thief IS an outright criminal.


I'm not all that worried about the safety of the good folks in Alto.  I'm no  Texan, but I've lived there. I'm still blessed with Texas friends. The first time I ever saw the window sign saying "We Don't Call 911"  was in Texas. 


A not-unusual mindset in that part of the world holds that a good cop can be handy to have around when  things go bad, but it isn't always that big a deal.  Dee Brown once wrestled  to the ground the myth about outlaws taking over the western town when the marshall  went on vacation. The most likely result of such a try was a set of coffins propped vertically for the convenience of the town photographer. Then the good citizens cleaned their  guns, put them away, and went back to their store-keepin', doctorin',  and whittlin'.


Alto hopes to hire its cops back in six months. but maybe they'll rethink. This could develop into a useful little experiment in anarcho-capitalism, nice Alto people going politely about their private affairs, not thinking much about the belt gun unless a clueless thug gives them reason to. 





5 comments:

SpeakerTweaker said...

In the meantime, for protection against ne’er-do-wells, petty thieves and outright criminals, citizens of Alto will have to rely on the Cherokee County sheriff’s office, headquartered 12 miles away.

No. In the meantime, for protection against all of society's nasties, citizens of Alto will have to rely on themselves.

Just like the citizens of each and every other city in the US, from the bumps-in-the-road to the sprawling megalopolises.

But it will be nice to have a 6 (or so) month case study, just the same. :)

Spikessib said...

Be interesting to see how this works out. All of the other cities I know of that have done this are in California,
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_sheriffs20.3dcc97a.html

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/07/local/la-me-0107-bell-audit-20110107
and how can you tell if it makes a difference there?

With all of the reports of the police getting out of hand lately, maybe the fewer the better.

Anonymous said...

My prediction is that the only noticable effect of this will be a reduction in the city's income--no speeding tickets, you know. Alto is very small, and the cops have no jurisdiction outside the city limits. That's up to the county sheriff anyway. And, in a town that small, everybody knows everybody, so local culprits are easily identified. I was born and raised not far from there, and the general feeling in that part of the world, as it is in most places, is that tiny town cops ain't Matt Dillon. They may re-hire a couple for night-watchman duties. JAGSC

Anonymous said...

My step-Dad's family is from Alto - I doubt that the town cops will be missed much, the fine folks from that part of Cherokee County know how to take care of themselves!

Anonymous said...

Be interested to know what the crime rate there is. Take note America,this is a fine example of how to take care of your own. Alto has my blessings and respect.