Is the government forcing the police to target petty crimes done to make us feel safer?

The government wants to think that the surveillance system they've installed makes us safer, so they have forced the police to achieve targets set for them to solve crime.

The police in turn have to focus on 'crimes' that generate points for their force, like fining drivers going 6mph over the speedlimit.

I know it's dangerous to speed, people should be prosecuted for doing a ton down the motorway, but nabbing someone for doing 36 in a 30 zone is just plain pedantic and is easy crime 'detection'

I'm not having a rant because I've got done for speeding, as I don't drive, I'm just using speeding as an example.

Should the government do away with the ridiculous crime targets they set the police, and let the police get on with the job we want them to do, which is arresting and prosecuting people who cause other people pain?

The Government isn't "forcing" the police through legal mandates or ‘public” policy. Rather, it encourages police to make these petty tickets and arrests because they are profitable.

Ostensibly, any police force is established to protect the interests of The People. That means; street or city police should help protect us against violent crimes that most citizens are not equipped to handle. The “special police forces” should protect us against material crimes the big national corporate entities or international criminals that we, as individual citizens, could never battle efficiently.

What you are noticing is not so much a phenomenon of intentionally-shifting police priorities, but rather a paradigm shift in the people.

Citizens of western countries have been conditioned to “believe” that any non-compliant citizen behavior is bad for society.

Insurance companies make money hand-over-fist through collusion with the government. The government passes laws that make auto insurance mandatory, the insurance companies get filthy-rich and powerful, then they use their money and influence to make petty enforcement profitable. The local city government gets the revenue of traffic tickets, citations etc, then the insurance companies make even more money by raising rates for even petty offenses that caused no material loss. They sight statistics as a rational motivation for targeted enforcement, but those statistics and accounting methods they use are skewed tremendously in there favor. Then politicians and law enforcement complete the money-circuit by making and enforcing laws “to protect us.”

This interaction between big-business and government is not an overt “conspiracy” in the typical sense, although it superficially functions like one. There is a better word to describe this phenomenon; “extortion.”

The so-called “free” people of English-speaking countries have all been conditioned to think that government is separate from big-business. Obviously, that is NOT true. The immense power of private interests are in collusion with law makers. They pass and enforce laws that punish citizens for non-violent “crimes” supposedly for our own safety, then ignore the big problems caused by corporate greed and malevolence.

The news is universally skewed toward focusing on street crimes, instead of reporting the REAL crimes that affect our wallets and freedoms. The nightly news shows “sight-bites” of frightening crimes and accidents. (“if it bleeds, it leads!)

Media news ignores the “silent” crimes of government officials and seldom reports on the secret power struggles and criminal activities of corporate sponsors. The net result is that citizens are molded in to compliant plastic slaves who believe the world is dangerous, and only “big-brother” can make us safe.

The news does not expose the criminal profiteering of government or the government’s ineffectual and heavy-handed inability to protect us from terror. The news does not expose the back-room deals and surreptitious negotiations between powerful private lobbyists and their cohorts. Why would it? Those are the same entities that pay for advertising on the brainwashing device they call “entertainment.”

You are correct. The local police should NOT be punishing otherwise law-abiding citizens for petty crimes. They should be protecting us against the real crimes that endanger freedom, free commerce and free expression.

The government should NOT use technology to extort more money from its citizens for non-violent victimless crime. We are already over-taxed. The government SHOULD protect us against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Put yourself in the policeman’s shoes…. Who would YOU rather get? …A real criminal who is potentially dangerous? … or a compliant citizen who is non-violent and has a little extra money to lose?

If YOU were a politician, who are you trying to impress with your “concern for public safety?” How would that affect your focus in law-making?

If you had an immensely profitable extortion racket, (like insurance) who would you want the police to attach? …the giant corporate moguls and government cronies they pay for? …or a helpless individual citizen?

If you owned a giant media conglomerate, who would you support through propagandized news and shock-value coverage? …the interests of your corporate sponsors, or the target audience of consumers?

Taxes, war and inflation guarantee that we are over-worked and too tired to investigate or fight.

Monopolized commercial media guarantees we will remain uninformed.

Fear makes the people compliant and complacent.

The media and government manufacture fear.

From this analysis you can determine that ALL big business is corrupt in the sense that it is in collusion with big government. You can tell that ALL major media sources are controlled for the express purpose of controlling the populace. You can also determine that the motives for all this are NOT for our protection. The motive is profit and control.

As long as people are over-worked, uniformed and complacent, this trend will escalate.

It is only when citizens such as yourself ask these questions that any answers can be forthcoming. Whether or not your totally agree with my analysis is not important. This debate in an open public forum is. I sincerely hope that, even if I haven’t convinced you why this phenomenon is taking place, at least I have inspired a more complete overview.

Yup.

a lot of the speed traps are to generate fine revenues for the city or county, not to seek and make arrests.

They police are just trying to meet targets, so go for the easy crime to make up numbers.

They make more money from Simon Cowell's tax than speed traps.

fleecing not policing! this site says it all...lmfao

http://www.hollographics.com/acatalog/Funny_Speed_Camera_Window_Stickers.html

Where do you live?

If its the U.S., do you really think our federal government - in all its current glory - could get organized enough to set goals for local police departments????????

Man if they ever got that efficient, it would be scary...