Police are not primarily crime fighters, according to the data

Re:Police are not primarily crime fighters, according to the... by thuridas on Saturday July 29, 2023 @04:57PM (#36924486)

We should measure a police department response to reporting a stolen mobile device with active localization. How eager is the police to fight a real crime.

I have a personal hypothesis that that some small locations depend too much on traffic fines and pay for productivity pluses. Most of those fines will be from outsiders. Probably it all started with an unexpected income, a proud politician announcing tax reductions and traffic fines become a real need for this location

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Re:Police are not primarily crime fighters, according to the... by quickthrower2 on Saturday July 29, 2023 @05:25PM (#36924806)

I remember someone on HN said (and I believe it) that in SF they wont come out for a burglary. Because there is too much more problematic crime than that.

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Re:Police are not primarily crime fighters, according to the... by wahnfrieden on Saturday July 29, 2023 @04:59PM (#36924505)

These are primarily pretext stops, not revenue generating ones. They profile based on likelihood of escalating to a more severe crime

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Re:Police are not primarily crime fighters, according to the... by halostatue on Saturday July 29, 2023 @05:57PM (#36925104)

In the U.S., they mostly profile based on skin colour, even if they claim otherwise. (In Canada, it’s also mostly on skin colour, but depending on the region, they’re probably looking far more for Indigenous peoples, and it’s just as wrong as American policing.)

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Re:Police are not primarily crime fighters, according to the... by drewbug01 on Saturday July 29, 2023 @06:47PM (#36925596)

> I have a personal hypothesis that that some small locations depend too much on traffic fines

Your personal hypothesis has substantial basis in fact: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/us/police-ticket-quotas-m...

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