@dorgaldir But if crime goes down, guys in suits don't make more money! They would need to pay people instead of using prisoners as slave labour.

Will someone think of the poor profit margins (that last part is sarcasm)

@dorgaldir This also sums up my perspective on poaching. Like yes it is bad, but it is an admission of desperation. If people weren't desperate and if there wasn't a market, there wouldn't be nearly as much poaching. Attempts to stop poaching feel like they have more potential to exacerbate human suffering if they go on a 'nope no more RIGHT NOW' approach.

Of course, the real people who are at fault are Western (and lately Middle Eastern--think UAE, Qatar, etc) buyers. Shame on them.

@dorgaldir two issues with the average cop (and pay isnt one of them) issue 1 too much expected of them.. they cover more and more situations where a professionally trained person would be better equipped to handle, and just arent available to send in, either because the city/county/state/feds dont want to fund having the correct people for the correct jobs, or just because they arent available in that jurisdiction.. and 2 (the more common issue) cops believe they are above the law, because they "are the law", they forget that "law enforcement" means that they enforce the laws equally on all members of the public, not the ones they cherry pick.. the guy in a suit and sports car doing 90 in a 45 should get arrested just as fast as the POC gets arrested doing 55 in 45, wearing a graphic t-shirt with a slogan the cop didnt like... it also means they arent supposed to cherry pick WHICH laws they want to enforce...or that they shouldnt enforce them on their "brothers in blue" (other cops)

most police jurisdictions would have no issues with funding and likely have better reputations and less people willing to throw bricks at them and their cars, if the police would do their jobs correctly, protect and serve the people of the communities they are assigned, and stopped believing themselves superior. but thats too much to ask.

@dorgaldir thing is, "more cops create more crime," much as "more lawyers result in more litigation."

They make their own work.

@dorgaldir

Never mind the suits, look at the voters. They don't want evidence-based methods, they want someone "tough on crime".

@dorgaldir

...says humanity too (which the suit ones don't care more).

@dorgaldir 2 Decades ago I wrote a "community engagement app" for law enforcement. The debate came up (thanks to the ever corrupt Rick Scott) about drug testing for welfare. One sheriff chimed into the debate with this statement: "We can either feed them or fight them."

He meant that it's cheaper to house and feed people than it is to fight the crime, prosecute and jail offenders who just want to eat.