Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com
Via email I received
this link to a story that concerns me. The story is about a small town called Hardin in Montana. In Hardin, Montana a private company named
American Police Force Corporation has taken over both the city's non-existent police department and it's empty jail.
OK, so I can hear a few people wondering:
If the police force doesn't exist and the jail has no prisoners, then who cares? Here's why it bothers me: this is a private corporation; a FOR PROFIT company that has taken over both a police agency (the moment the first officer is sworn in) and a jail. Such a company wouldn't have done so unless there was a PROFIT to be made. That means that to staff the police agency they're going to hire people at a certain wage and then bill the town a higher rate so that the company can make the profit.
Now, here's the real kicker: the jail is empty at the moment. What happens when it starts being populated by prisoners arrested by the private company's officers? Right - each prisoner will have a cost attached and a higher cost will be billed to the town, county or state so that the company can make a profit off of each prisoner. Do you see the problem yet? If the company makes profit from running the jail and it also makes profit from running the police department, doesn't it stand to profit even more if it's using the police department to populate the jail?
Yes, yes... I know. I'm both paranoid and quite imaginative. Of course that can't happen. It would require too many lawyers (who work for a profit defending criminals) and too many judges (or maybe just a few) to... well, not to
help the company - but just not to get in the way. If the lawyers defend their clients, they make money. If the judges simply judge cases based on merit, then the prison will eventually get populated. Ultimately, unless the population of Hardin and anyone traveling through it suddenly becomes perfectly crime free, the company
will make a profit.
So what's the real problem? Well, two things come to mind:
1) RoboCop: anyone remember when the private company took over a large city's police agency? Officers were treated like crap and when one died he was considered the company's property? Yep, pure science fiction, right? But if the company could take over the city's policing and make a profit then how much more is possible?
2) There is no way to "police for profit" and maintain integrity. This is one of the big criticisms of law enforcement in the "old west". Some city law enforcement officers were paid by the arrest. More arrests = bigger paychecks. When that's the case, how much integrity and impartiality can be maintained?
Now I understand that the
company wouldn't be getting paid per arrest, but think about it: they would be setting policy for the officers they hired. AND they'd be generating profit for every prisoner in the jails. That's a very fine line to be walked to insure integrity and impartiality in law enforcement.
Of course, this may just be me being entirely paranoid and imaginative. On the other hand, if I were a citizen of Hardin I'd be pretty concerned.
Remember something folks: when Blackwater was contracted by FEMA to provide security services after Hurricane Katrina,
huge objections were made by politicians nationwide and many citizens voiced their concerns about "a private police force."
Well, it's reality. The company representatives in Hardin even drove in behind the wheels of Mercedes SUVs
with town police logos on the sides of them. Are we worried yet?
What do you think?
