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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (111238)	5/4/2010 4:17:15 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 116555

I have to say that Mayor Swearengin wimped out by wasting a golden opportunity to outsource the entire fire department as well. I think you're being a bit harsh Mish.. 1 in 12 public jobs being cut is a decent start, politically speaking. While you may think you have a point about outsourcing the police and fire department, it's easier said than done. Even taxpayers will hesitate to fire them and rely upon private "mercenaries" (contractors) to protect the population. Privatize the police and you effectively create private local armies accountable only to their profit margin. Worse than that, you create a group of police and firemen who switch with any new contract. The management might change, but the people remain in place. And I can tell you that, having once had experience as Program Manager for a armed security company, that isn't all it's cracked up to be. Standards are not met, officers are not fit and training becomes an issue of whether it impacts the contractor's profit margin. And often times, as a contract manager, you'll find yourself at a disadvantage when your subordinates are "tied in" with the client to the point that they undermine your management. After all, if you lose the contract, they know they'll be re-hired by the new contractor. This creates a major shift in the balance of power between city managers and patrol officers and firefighters and merely inserts a near impotent private contractor management team as a middleman. It might be alright for Court Security Officers, or State facility security. It might even be alright for prison guards.. But the level of duty and service is going to decline significantly if they go private police service. You're certainly going to see a change in attitude, IMO. Fewer cops and firefighters will be willing to take risks on the job when they find themselves mere "worker bees". Hawk