Crime drops 61 percent after town switches to private policing; free market law enforcement rising in US
by: J. D. Heyes
NaturalNews.com
Monday, April 13, 2015
A new trend is sweeping across America, and it’s an idea whose time may have come: Private police forces – as in, forces that do not subsist on tax dollars or work on behalf of local, city or county governments.
As reported by the Washington Post, the idea is built on one that is older than our republic. In the days of English common law, “conservators of the peace” were individuals empowered to protect communities and businesses, using established laws and rules.
“The conservator of the peace concept predates modern policing,” the paper reported. “It has its origins in English common law, and the first Virginia statute was enacted in 1860 to allow proprietors of ‘watering places’ to protect their establishments.”
In Virginia, especially, Special Conservators of the Peace, or SCOPs as they are called, are becoming increasingly common, though not everyone is a fan of them. The Post noted:
The trend has raised concerns in Virginia and elsewhere, because these armed officers often receive a small fraction of the training and oversight of their municipal counterparts. Arrests of private police officers and incidents involving SCOPs overstepping their authority have also raised concerns.
’61 percent less crime’
The Rest…HERE
