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brandonmenc

"Policing" and "law enforcement" are different.

Policing: hey, you're not allowed to jaywalk, so stop.

Law Enforcement: here's a $100 fine for your first jaywalking offense.

We have too many law enforcers, too few police.

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Real policing would ignore the so-called offence of jaywalking,unless the person is putting themselves in harm's way. "I know the nearest crossing is 80 meters away, but have a think about where and when to cross - the drivers of cars that come around that corner can't see you until the last second:

Not to mention, that the parking meter box is across the street, not on the corner, so to get to it legally you'd have to walk half a block down, cross with the light, walk half a block, put your money in, get the slip of paper, walk back half a block to the corner, wait for the light again, walk back to your car to put the paper on the dashboard (hoping you didn't get a parking ticket in the mean while), then go to your destination. Repeat every 2 hours.

This is Chicago's parking meter system.

Don't you have an app for that?

We have too many murderers and abettors of murderers, and too few virtuous people in the ranks of the guards... the major concept suppressed is the idea that the guards are servants of the people rather than oppressors.

By giving police the power to judiciate through selective enforcement of the rules, you are guaranteeing that there will be rampant abuse.

Look at the UK. Police there have far more judicial discretion than is common in the US, but abuse/bribery/etc is incredibly low.

Although it should be noted that UK police have no incentive to fine people, the department doesn't profit from it, whereas in the US a lot of departments are primarily financed through fines.

I think that that's the root of the problem, or at least a much bigger part of it than either political side is interested in letting on. Not everything is shaped by money, but when there's money involved, it's worthwhile to know what incentives it sets up...

Except we already give them that power - see the all-too-common offenses of driving while black, contempt of cop, and the tried-and-true 'I'm pretty sure I smelled weed in the car'.

On top of that, we also give prosecutors the power to judiciate selective enforcement.

But even just assigning someone to jaywalking duty is already selective enforcement. Even if the entire police force was on jaywalking duty, you couldn't catch all the jaywalkers in the city.

Replace the police with robots? No thanks.

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