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To: elmatador who wrote (7042)	8/13/2001 1:22:59 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

El Mat- if fighting crime was better done by private police forces, don't you think someone would have figured that out by now? I just explained this weekend one problem with privatizing crime fighting - remember my story about the National Socialist private army? They decided for themselves what was bad and what was good, and it wasn't necessarily what "the people" would have liked them to do. So either the police enforce crime according to their own self-interest, or they are neutral, and most of us think neutral is better. If you make something a business, some people try to get rich. We have a problem here in the US because the police get to keep and sell property they confiscate - sometimes they confiscate property that shouldn't be confiscated. Better that the police don't have a pecuniary interest in what they are doing. Cops have so much power - there needs to be very good control. Anyone who has power to abuse needs oversight. "Who will watch the watchers?" I think is an old Greek saying. Rent-a-cops are notorious for being hot-dogs - that's US slang for hot-headed, no self-control in a dangerous situation. Yes, there are very good private police forces already working for corporations. But their loyalty is to the corporation. No man can serve two masters. What do you call police who work for a city or a town? Police.