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   REPLYADDR tim@streater.me.uk   
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   REPLY:  8f8e69ca   
   PID: SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
   On 07 Feb 2024 at 23:36:18 GMT, "Scott Alfter"  wrote:   
      
   > In article ,   
   > Lawrence D'Oliveiro   wrote:   
   >> On Wed, 07 Feb 2024 16:26:23 GMT, Scott Alfter wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> In article ,   
   >>> Lawrence D'Oliveiro   wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> It’s worked really well in Australia. That’s what scares the US gun   
   >>>> nuts.   
   >>>   
   >>> By "worked really well," you meant to say that crime has skyrocketed,   
   >>> right?   
   >>   
   >> I mean that mass shootings have become something of a rarity in Australia   
   >> now. Whereas they are a weekly occurrence in the USA.   
   >   
   > Hardly, at least not in the civilized parts of the country.  Somewhere like   
   > Chicago or DC (to pick a couple)?  They're getting what they voted for, good   
   > and hard, and them doing more of the same isn't going to improve their lot.   
      
   I assume you refer to the "defunding of the police"? That this could happen at   
   all is just another indication that the basic structures of governance are   
   badly organised where you are. Here, there is complete separation between the   
   police (paid for by a local tax but organised much more nationally) and local   
   government. This also applies to traffic enforcement, so that traffic fines   
   accrue to the state, not local government. I observed this at first hand when   
   I had a speeding ticket in California. I went to traffic school and at the   
   close of the session, a little old lady asked whether quotas existed. The   
   convenor (an off-duty San Francisco cop), eventually said "Yes, but no one   
   would ever admit that publicly."   
      
   What this refers to (I eventually discovered) is that if the city runs low on   
   funds, the Mayor tells the police chief about it, and the traffic cops get   
   told to go out and not come back without (say) three sitter and four movers.   
   Meaning that, as a way for the city to raise some funds, they book people for   
   trivial infringements that would otherwise have been overlooked. This smells   
   like legalised banditry to me.   
      
   It comes down to structures, and you folk need to realise this.   
      
   --   
   Tim   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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