Author Topic: England/Wales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police  (Read 5052 times)

TechMan

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England/Wales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« on: March 05, 2012, 04:06:57 PM »
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/02/police-privatisation-security-firms-crime


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The breathtaking list of policing activities up for grabs includes investigating crimes, detaining suspects, developing cases, responding to and investigating incidents, supporting victims and witnesses, managing high-risk individuals, patrolling neighbourhoods, managing intelligence, managing engagement with the public, as well as more traditional back-office functions, such as managing forensics, providing legal services, managing the vehicle fleet, finance and human resources.

I see Omni Consumer Products coming to fruition.

« Last Edit: March 05, 2012, 07:02:31 PM by adively »
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Hawkmoon - Never underestimate another person's capacity for stupidity. Any time you think someone can't possibly be that dumb ... they'll prove you wrong.

Bacon and Eggs - A day's work for a chicken; A lifetime commitment for a pig.
Stupidity will always be its own reward.
Bad decisions make good stories.

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Viking - The problem with the modern world is that there aren't really any predators eating stupid people.

Ned Hamford

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Re: England/Whales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2012, 04:55:57 PM »
If the state action is outsourced to a private actor, who assuredly gets all those state protections and rights... it...  well, kinda goes against the reason all those special rights and protections for state actors existed in the first place. 

Just be sure to get yourselves added to the 4th Prime Directive.  Much better times than not being there. 
{Robocop's classified directive that made employees immune from arrest}
Improbus a nullo flectitur obsequio.

longeyes

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Re: England/Whales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2012, 06:11:48 PM »
That's right, when in doubt, blame the whales.  =D
"Domari nolo."

Thug: What you lookin' at old man?
Walt Kowalski: Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have messed with? That's me.

Molon Labe.

TechMan

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Re: England/Whales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #3 on: March 05, 2012, 07:04:02 PM »
That's right, when in doubt, blame the whales.  =D

Okay...okay...okay...I changed the topic.
Quote
Hawkmoon - Never underestimate another person's capacity for stupidity. Any time you think someone can't possibly be that dumb ... they'll prove you wrong.

Bacon and Eggs - A day's work for a chicken; A lifetime commitment for a pig.
Stupidity will always be its own reward.
Bad decisions make good stories.

Quote
Viking - The problem with the modern world is that there aren't really any predators eating stupid people.

TommyGunn

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Re: England/Wales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #4 on: March 05, 2012, 07:17:13 PM »
deleted by author.
MOLON LABE   "Through ignorance of what is good and what is bad, the life of men is greatly perplexed." ~~ Cicero

MicroBalrog

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Re: England/Wales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #5 on: March 05, 2012, 10:22:02 PM »
There is little "private" about this activity. It's more of a subcontracting.
Destroy The Enemy in Hand-to-Hand Combat.

"...tradition and custom becomes intertwined and are a strong coercion which directs the society upon fixed lines, and strangles liberty. " ~ William Graham Sumner

RoadKingLarry

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Re: England/Wales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #6 on: March 05, 2012, 11:22:57 PM »
Policing for profit, what could possibly go wrong?
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

Samuel Adams

Jamie B

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Re: England/Wales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #7 on: March 06, 2012, 07:37:32 AM »
"No firearms experience required".
Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength - Henry Ward Beecher

The Almighty tells me He can get me out of this mess, but He’s pretty sure you’re f**ked! - Stephen

agricola

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Re: England/Wales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2012, 09:39:33 AM »
Surprised to see a thread on this here, but should my opinion on this not already be easy to guess I think this is an awful idea for the following reasons:

i) Its a ten-year (though in reality it is going to be longer since the company involved will already have all the trained staff, all the experience and probably most of the facilities required so its not as if people will be able to outbid them down the line) monopoly that is on offer, not the creation of an actual market in police services.  

Such a market could have brought about by allowing the staff in each force (and/or each role within that force) to form their own companies and bid for both their own and other forces contracts, plus of course smaller-scale companies would be much easier for the non-police private sector to set up and compete with the ex-police ones (and easier to fix when either type of company went wrong).  If they had done that, then we would be much more likely to get costs down, improve efficiency, innovation and competition generally than this monopoly will be able to.

ii) It wont result in any savings and will probably in fact cost a lot more than it does now - the way the contract is written will inevitably mean that the private company has to rely on the police staff who will be "transferred" from the various constabularies to carry out the work they have contracted for, staff who obviously will have a powerful incentive and the means (since they are mostly unionised, and its not as if many of these roles have an equivalent in the private sector that they can bring people in from to scab) to resist any change in wages, pensions etc being imposed on them by just walking out on strike and causing the system to collapse.  

The government has already tried a similar deal with "privatizing" (though again what they in fact did is offered a monopoly to a private firm when the service had previously mostly been provided by private, uncontracted but registered individual interpreters who were only paid for work performed) the Court Interpreter service, which is now costing a lot more than it used to because the interpreters refused to sign up to the new deal - not unreasonably, because their rates were cut by half.  As a result, what has happened is that the MoJ now has to pay both ALS and the "rogue" interpreters, otherwise the legal system collapses.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/mar/02/interpreters-courts-protest-privatised-contract

iii) Quite a few of the people behind this proposal are very senior ex-police officers, and its only being actively supported by people of the same very senior status.  As a result I have a hard time believing that this isnt more about graft than it is about "efficiency".
« Last Edit: March 07, 2012, 09:48:41 AM by agricola »
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Perd Hapley

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Re: England/Wales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2012, 11:01:31 AM »
American police: "You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent..."

West Midlands, England police: "Are you being served?"
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Blakenzy

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Re: England/Wales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #10 on: March 07, 2012, 11:56:45 AM »
I think the Mafia would be interested in placing a bid they can't refuse...
"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both"

brimic

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Re: England/Wales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #11 on: March 07, 2012, 12:47:09 PM »
Don't you just love government?
A government is supposed to be responsible for the security of its citizens first, otherwise there really isn't a legitimate reason to have a government.
Now we have governments across Europe and the US that have a myriad of worthless bureaucratic positions and programs but won't provide the basics- secure borders or secure residential neighborhoods.
When a socialist is facing budget cuts or pressure from his constituents, what does he cut first? The welfare programs? The city's diversity enforcement officer? The free needles for drug addicts and free condoms to grade schoolers programs?
No.
The first on the chopping block is Fire and Police services.

I'm not knocking Great Britain on this either, our country is just about as bad and is following Europe down the same utopian socialist rabbit hole.
"now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb" -Dark Helmet

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RoadKingLarry

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Re: England/Wales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #12 on: March 07, 2012, 06:47:16 PM »
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I'm not knocking Great Britain on this either, our country is just about as bad and is following Europe down the same utopian socialist rabbit hole. sewer

FTFY =D
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

Samuel Adams

Lee

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Re: England/Wales Inviting Bids For Privatizing Police
« Reply #13 on: March 07, 2012, 10:48:07 PM »
That's what happens when you spend all your money micromanaging the world...there and very soon here. I'd  consider public welfare (all areas of it) to be a higher duty of one's government,  than spending trillions on policing the world. Clean up health and welfare after you stop throwing trillions to foreign interests.