Do you think, private business should be allowed to sponsor the Police with private funds?
What????!!
So that corrupt police could harass rival businesses, favor the rich when they get pulled over, etc etc. etc.
And yes, I know this happens now, but through our taxes & voting WE can have some say/control.
Yes, they accept donations but if we allow this in the context of the OP question we should look for more and more people and companies that seem to be above the law. That means more cops emptying a gun on a man who is walking away and more people dying in police custody or even being shot to death inside their own apartment while the murdering officer claims "he was not following my commands." Remember that the officer in this shooting thought she was inside her own apartment and she was not even on the right floor. Police are the enforcement arm of the mayor but they have to be accountable and kept in control.
Is there an issue with private companies sponsoring police that I haven't heard about yet? As @genessa said, it sounds like private donations just like any of us can give. If I give $10,000 to the local police, it doesn't give me any special legal rights or a get out of jail free card. Is there a deeper problem at the center of this, or does "sponsor" have a meaning here that I'm not understanding?
Generally when police, fire have a fundraiser or Gala, it’s to raise funds for an actual charity. It could be thier own for continued assistance to thier own fallen or injured officers and families or for other charities. The money does not go into thier departments.
@Green_eyes does it not? sorry, i am not that familiar with them. but why is that relevant? if it's not pay to play and it's not privatization, why is it wrong? we donate to hospitals. we donate to many entities. we should be fighting against actual privatization, not worrying about private donations.
g
@genessa most hospitals are non profit and may receive funds in the form of endowments for a specific purpose. Ross Perot had his wife’s name put on the hospital I worked at in Dallas. Police and Fire are government entities paid for with taxpayer money and should remain as transparent as possible. The optics of donations are terrible. I don’t see an upside. There should never be privatization of the police force.. the mess with the jail is quite enough.
@Green_eyes i am totally against privatization of ANY government agency or entity, and that goes for the police too. i don't see why donations can't be transparent. i don't even think citizens united applies to donations other than to political parties (but of course citizens united needs to be overturned). if they were not transparent then yeah, big problem. i am not worried about optics for their own sake. i am worried about pay for play. if that is not involved, then i am okay with donations.
g
No on this and to further the issue, we are talking "private" here, it is without a doubt a open door for corruption and control. private business, big business or any corporation to influence our civil or country's agencies are a big no no and it is very obviously why.
Absolutely not.. unfortunately there’s enough corruption without inviting it in.
why not? sponsoring is just making donations, right? if they expect something in return, that's wrong, but anyone can make donations to support the police; they have fundraising balls, right? so they do accept donations.
g
I have been asked for donations for events but have never seen one being held.
@dalefvictor well me neither but i don't get out much. all i know is that if it's not pay for play, there is no reason not to allow it, and if it IS pay for play, it's already illegal.
g
I don't think there is anything wrong with businesses sponsoring a police benefit ball for instance, say for the families of fallen policemen, but the possibility that any sponsorship could be construed as bribery, protection money or other nefarious activities needs to be clearly established as hard limits prior to such sponsorship.
Absolutely not, there exists a scenario where I live that a bar near the foothills of our mountain range is on land covered by developers, that bar was so heavily policed - way way more than other similar bars in the community - that people stopped going there. Unsurprisingly, it went out of business and the developers got the land they wanted.