An idea whose time has come, Liquidate your local police

[Prometheus]

Pro Libertate: Liquidate Your Local Police: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

An excellent read. Nothing should be sacred as cities and states (not to mention the fed) work to balance their budgets and lower taxes.

An excellent case is made as to why bloated departments needs to cut or eliminated, not to mention the money they cost taxpayers from civil rights lawsuits.

 

[Darral27]

A great idea. I live in a small town in central indiana where there are constant allegations of corruption. I recently had somebody hit the back of my van in a fast food drive thru and leave the scene. Luckily my wife (who was driving) was able to get the plate number. When we called the police we were informed it was not hit and run. I believe the officer knew the girl who hit us and was very unwilling to do anything beyond getting us her insurance information. Even in the police report it was stated differently than it happened. I contacted the sheriff dept. and they said they could not do anything and I would have to deal with local pd so i decided not to pursue, it would cause more trouble than it is worth. So many of these small town pd's are nothing but corrupt and the good ole boy network needs to be done away with. The only way to do that is drastic change and I for one hope like hell it happens.

 

[rambone]

 

[Kutnupe14]

 

[jsharmon7]

I think if you decide to get rid of local police service, we could get rid of local fire/EMS service as well. Aren't the majority of fire departments in this country Volunteer Departments though? I saw the stats once...

 

[jeremy]

I think if you decide to get rid of local police service, we could get rid of local fire/EMS service as well. Aren't the majority of fire departments in this country Volunteer Departments though? I saw the stats once...

Approximately 80% of the Fire and EMS Service across the USA is Volunteer...

 

[Prometheus]

Approximately 80% of the Fire and EMS Service across the USA is Volunteer...

Pretty close, IIRC the 2010 percentage was 78%. To put it in perspective, in 1990 it was 86%. The economic boom saw a major expansion in 'career' firefighters.

The ideal situation for most cities like Portage or Valpo would be to have a combination department. Paid career chief, 3 full time LT's per station (each working a 24 hour shift) and, if needed, a pair of paid firefighters to work 7am to 5pm Mondays thru Fridays.

That would leave just a single paid LT on duty at night, plus a chief who would be required to respond to major calls 24/7.

It isn't practical to run 100% volunteer stations in some areas, the call volume is just to high during the day (and sometimes night) and/or most of the volunteers work normal 9-5 jobs outside of the normal response area.

PA actually has state laws requiring employers to allow employees to leave to fight structure fires if they are volunteers, likewise to protect employees if they are late to work because of a fire.

A city in PA the size of Portage or Valpo would never have a paid FD. People would laugh any politician out of office if they even tried.

Another answer is "public safety officers" who are leos/firefighters/EMTs. They drive in a cop car with their bunker gear in the trunk. They lock their gun in the trunk and go fight the fire if needed, they also runs EMS calls.

It's also absurd some areas run a paid FD and employ a private EMS service. Combine them.

A paid county EMS system can actually be cost neutral. The money they collect from runs can make such a system pay for itself if managed properly.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

Sounds like a good idea that could work for this community. It may work for others. Most would not stomach the idea, because security is one of the reasons people migrate toward cities.

I'm all for cutting everything the citizenry believes is not essential. No cow should be sacred, especially in today's climate.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

I think if you decide to get rid of local police service, we could get rid of local fire/EMS service as well. Aren't the majority of fire departments in this country Volunteer Departments though? I saw the stats once...

While the vast majority of fire/ems runs in major cities are medical, the presence of a full-time professional fire department is probably essential to minimize the spread of fires in congested areas. Volunteer Fire/EMS departments vary widely in their efficiency and ability to deliver timely services across the country. I'm not saying that the concept of all-volunteer departments wouldn't work, but I have to wonder if there are any major urban areas where the primary fire suppression and emergency medical aid is supplied by volunteers, which, almost by definition, are not staffed to respond to large fire or multiple casualty events with sufficient manpower to quickly provide a proper response.

As an example, my local township fire department gets 2% of every tax dollar I pay; schools get 53%.

 

[jeremy]

While the vast majority of fire/ems runs in major cities are medical, the presence of a full-time professional fire department is probably essential to minimize the spread of fires in congested areas. Volunteer Fire/EMS departments vary widely in their efficiency and ability to deliver timely services across the country. I'm not saying that the concept of all-volunteer departments wouldn't work, but I have to wonder if there are any major urban areas where the primary fire suppression and emergency medical aid is supplied by volunteers, which, almost by definition, are not staffed to respond to large fire or multiple casualty events with sufficient manpower to quickly provide a proper response.

As an example, my local township fire department gets 2% of every tax dollar I pay; schools get 53%.

Look no further in you Wonderings on whether an All Volunteer Department can work or not in a Major City...

The Largest Volunteer Fire Department in the Nation is that of Pasadena Texas.

The Pasadena Fire Department is the largest single municipal volunteer fire department in the United States. Pasadena, Texas is located East of Houston, Texas and has a night time population of 150,000+ and a day time population of 1,000,000+. The Pasadena Fire Department includes over 190 active firefighters plus 45 semi-active firefighters. The department responds to approximately 2,000+ alarms per year within the City of Pasadena, including rescue calls, and hazardous materials incidents. While providing fire protection to the city, the department is an active member of the Channel Industries Mutual Aid (CIMA). The Pasadena Fire Department also provides mutual aid fire protection in conjunction with Ellington Air Field, Johnson Space Center, the University of Houston-Clear Lake and for about 1,500 homes in the City of Taylor Lake Village.

 

[littletommy]

You also have to remember that insurance companies are heavily involved in these things, which I'm guessing would try to put a major squeeze on the taxpayer if these services were to be overhauled. I'm all for cutting PDs and FDs to the bone, the savings would be huge, but I also don't depend on my government to babysit me, wether it be a fire at my house or somebody trying to break in.

Nothing pisses me off more than hearing how the county, state, feds, whatever, are in a budget crisis, yet just down the road there is a 16 million dollar fire headquarters with at least 16 million dollars worth of the latest equipment setting in it. Not to mention the two dozen or so new police vehicles, dozen or so new vehicles bought by the town, dozen or so vehicles bought by the school system, and so on and so on. sounds like the only budget crises there is is being felt by those of us paying for all this ****!

 

[Blackhawk2001]

Look no further in you Wonderings on whether an All Volunteer Department can work or not in a Major City...

The Largest Volunteer Fire Department in the Nation is that of Pasadena Texas.

It's been almost 25 years since I've lived next door (literally) to Pasadena, but as I recall, the Houston Fire Department provides mutual aid, and the fire protection services employed by the refineries could be considered "professional full-time" in any other context. In fact, Pasadena is basically a suburb of Houston, being completely surrounded by the sprawling City of Houston. But I take your point.

 

[jeremy]

It's been almost 25 years since I've lived next door (literally) to Pasadena, but as I recall, the Houston Fire Department provides mutual aid, and the fire protection services employed by the refineries could be considered "professional full-time" in any other context. In fact, Pasadena is basically a suburb of Houston, being completely surrounded by the sprawling City of Houston. But I take your point.

All Departments Provide Mutual aid to Each other. My Little 16 Man Volunteer Department in Podunk Indiana has been called in to Assist the Paid guys in Delphi, Kokomo, and Frankfort Several times in the last 5 years...
Just because you have a Paid Department does not mean that they are better or worse than the Volunteers...

If you root around you will find that a pretty Fair amount of Cities have Volunteers or Volunteers and some Paid. The City of Bloomington, Minnesota (the Mall of America place) for example is Volunteer...

 

[jamespt-145]

thin the numbers.