Perhaps there are some areas in the US where this is a problem, but I don't know if it's safe to generalize that the US is degrading to third-world status just yet.

My dad used to say "there's few things more dangerous in the suburbs than a bored cop".

Been involved in some of those interactions while walking home in my own neighborhood. They're not pleasant. One involved handcuffs and a 30 minute sit on the curb while my backpack was searched. Yes I'm referring to these past incidents in plural for a reason. No, the complaints to the city and precinct didn't do anything.

I have lived some places where the police culture was more toxic, definitely.

I'm not going to go on some kind of "all cops are bastards" bend here, cause that's not the case and this isn't the forum for it, but I've had more bad experiences with the police than good ones.

None of them resulted in an arrest or charges filed (this is excluding moving violations because death, taxes and speeding tickets; I was a 23 year old driving a Mustang lol) since none of the interactions involved me doing anything illegal. After a few experiences like that you learn to keep an eye on a police officer when you see one, but there's no urge to make your presence overtly known to them either.

Head over to Portland, and the cops are so overloaded with dealing with more serious crimes that they won't even respond to auto theft.

I would definitely call the police for package theft in my town, and I'd have a good expectation that they'd assign an officer to watch for crime patterns and get the guys.

In Portland, I'd be duplicating this guy's glitter bomb.

Also property crimes always take a backseat to more violent crimes.

Robbers and burglars usually get attention.

Petty theft that does not involve robbery or burglary doesn't, but there is a world of difference between the three crimes.

Some areas even murder is 60%.

A healthy society keeps people from committing crimes, not a giant police force.

They're too busy training on their new hand-me-down military gear. Local cops need tanks to keep you safe, citizen.

The police exist to maintain order on behalf of the State, the civil justice system exists to mediate property disputes between people. There is sometimes some synergy between the functions, but they are very different.

Be careful what you wish for. I don't want the police to be able to perform accurate facial recognition at the kind of scale you're talking about, even if that would make it harder for thieves to steal packages.

Amazon is helping cities and counties implement Rekognition systems fairly cheap with cameras tied to criminal databases. It's happening. They've done it in Washington County, OR, Orlando, FL, and others [1]. Amazon is also teaming up with law enforcement to install Ring doorbells with cameras (Amazon owns them) hooked up to the same type of system.[2] Palantir Systems (CIA backed) have done similar in NYC[3] and even doing PREDICTIVE crime analysis in New Orleans[4] and Chicago [5]. In the case of New Orleans, the public and city counsel was not even made aware. Only the mayor knew. Yes, be very, very careful what you wish for.

[1] https://aws.amazon.com/rekognition/customers/

[2] https://qz.com/1495241/amazon-has-a-clever-way-to-catch-pack...

[3] https://gizmodo.com/how-palantir-is-taking-over-new-york-cit...

[4] https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/27/17054740/palantir-predict...

[5] https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/19/12552384/chicago-heat-lis...

Twice I have emailed the police and CC the Mayor of my city. I got a sorry can we meet in person response in an hour. The Sargent on Call was eating humble pie when he was called in and got chewed out by the Mayor and the Police. (Story a neighbor I don't know was physically assaulted by his girlfriend and she ripped his shirt and scratched him up. I stopped him from destroying her and going to jail. I called the police and no one came. We walked over to the station with 3 police cars sitting outside and were turned away.)

[0]: https://pe.usps.com/text/pub28/28c2_033.htm [1]: https://www.techjunkie.com/how-to-use-usps-general-delivery-... [2]: https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/508.htm#ep1052038

Have we learned nothing from Reddit circa 2013?

The system takes a cut.

Crowd-sourced bounty-hunting.

Of course, once it becomes a cash transaction you're dealing with dispute resolution. "I said it was Fred" "It wasn't Fred" "Yes it was! Pay me!".

Good.

I'm against theft, and also against Police and facial analysis mixing.

You mean like the system in China? No thanks. Never underestimate the propensity of any government to violate human rights when given the power to do so.

If a choice has to be made between the two, a government that respects human rights is far preferable to a country without crime among citizens.

Have these people been convicted of crimes?

Because if they haven't, then yes, actually you are absolutely advocating restricting freedoms, and stumbling dangerously close to advocating redlining which has been illegal in the US for decades.

Edit:

Pardon my double post, I think a page got stuck loading on me somewhere.

A word of advice then: best state that immediately from the very beginning next time, instead of equivocating your way around the point for days. The minute you start talking about "curtailing freedom" there is one inextricable link that conjures in the mind from this type of language: the state.

Backing off it once the horse has been beaten into putty to say "oh I wasn't talking about the state" just looks like you're doing all of this for sport and not attempting to hold an actual meaningful position before finding a convenient escape hatch out of the discussion.

Have you never dealt with an HOA in your life? Have you never known someone who has?

I believe we need more defense in depth. We need our human rights to be protected by every level of government and informally by society itself.

It is a story as old as time.