Revenue collection masquerading as law enforcement

By Charles Bloomer
web posted September 10, 2001

Washington, DC has become the latest municipality to embrace
technology in innovative and intrusive ways to violate its
residents' privacy and fleece its citizens. The city has bought new
photo radar systems to catch and ticket speeders in the nation's
capital. Five of the radar cameras are mounted on vehicles and
one is permanently mounted. These cameras are in addition to
the 39 red light cameras.

District Police Chief Charles Ramsey has defended the system,
declaring that the "safety and well-being of our residents are our
top priorities", his version of the "if it saves just one life" litany.
Chief Ramsey has downplayed reports that the city expects to
make $11 million per year on the photo radar system. In its first
10 days of operation, the system nabbed 15,000 speeders.

But the Chief's arguments in favor of the radar system ring
hollow when speeding is put in the proper perspective. In 1999,
there were 41 traffic fatalities in Washington. Police claim that
speeding is responsible for 55% of traffic fatalities, or 23 deaths
in 1999. That same year there were 241 murders, 248 rapes, 3,
344 robberies, 4,615 cases of aggravated assault, and 5,067
burglaries.

If Chief Ramsey is so concerned about the "safety and well-
being" of Washington's residents, maybe he should be as
enthusiastic about reducing the other, more serious crime
problem in his jurisdiction. But then, aggressively enforcing laws
and solving violent crimes aren't likely to bring in millions of
dollars. It is obviously more lucrative to ensnare drivers in a Big
Brother camera scheme.

But one mustn't be too hard on Chief Ramsey. He is in the same
predicament as other law enforcement agencies and police chiefs
all over the country. Police chiefs work for elected politicians,
and those elected leaders care about only two things - getting re-
elected and raising revenue. To these politicians, law
enforcement is nothing more than another means of collecting
money to feed their ever-growing empires. This attitude toward
law enforcement can be seen everywhere, at every level of
government. State troopers stand careful guard over carpool
lanes, ready to issued a citation should some unwary citizen drive
without the requisite number of passengers. City police officers
man roadside inspection stations on the lookout for unbuckled
seatbelts, or expired license tags, or invalid safety inspection
stickers. These examples are easy money activities. Responding
to 911 calls doesn't bring in any money to feed political
giveaways.

The problem is exacerbated by state and local legislatures that
pass more and more laws that have nothing to do with "public
safety" or the "well-being of residents", but are cash cows that
provide the funds necessary for the politicians to reward favored
groups. Most of these laws and ordinances are at the level of
nuisance, hardly worth fighting. So hard working citizens, who
don't have the time or resources to take the issue to court, end
up paying the fine, grumble about the unfairness, then get on with
their lives.

The politicians care next to nothing for your rights - your right to
privacy, your constitutional rights, your right to face your
accuser. Why should they? They have the monopoly on the use
of "legitimate" force, the power to tax, the power to pass laws
that increase revenues. They have the power to distribute those
revenues to people and groups that help them get re-elected.
Politicians are more concerned about power, control and money
than they are with the safety and well-being of their constituents.

Barring a successful court challenge to the traffic camera
schemes, we can expect to see more revenue collection systems
put into place. We can expect more lip service to be paid to our
"safety and well-being", as our politicians find more high-tech
solutions to rob us of our rights as they take more and more of
our money. The voracious greed of government is insatiable.

We should insist that law enforcement agencies be renamed
Revenue Collection Agencies. At least that would be honest.

Charles Bloomer is a Senior Writer at Enter Stage Right. He can
be contacted at clbloomer@enterstageright.com. (c) 2001
Charles Bloomer

Enter Stage Right - http://www.enterstageright.com