We need professional law enforcement people to do these jobs, not a bunch of vigilantes. Vigilantism is always wrong...no matter how good their intentions.
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Ordinarily I would agree with you, but...you notice that Dateline/Perverted Justice does work with the local authorities and not independently The perps walk into the sting and as soon as they walk out, they are arrested. To be fair, at least some of these episodes take place in rural areas or small towns. Most small towns (and even larger cities) don't have the resources and manpower to do the job themselves. So I think this type of cooperation (police, PJ and Dateline) is a win-win thing. At least for the moment, we get these dangerous animals off the streets.
By the way, I love Clifford...and the pic. :)
I say ROCK ON VIGILANTES in this case. The more vigilantes the better since too many parents are not paying attention. But each to his own opinion on this.
"We need professional law enforcement people to do these jobs, not a bunch of vigilantes. Vigilantism is always wrong...no matter how good their intentions."
Depends how you define vigilantism. If you mean dragging people out of a jail cell and "necklacing" them Africa style, you might have a point. Otherwise, I think you're flat out wrong. Our justice system initially operated with few if any professional police. The genesis of police departments was to assist citizens. Not to supplant them.
Like so many other things, those who were intended to assist have been handed over primary responsibility. And the end results are there for all to see. Research crime statistics from 150 years ago, in the years before police departments, and compare them to now. You'll find that we were far better off in the days before professional law enforcement.
I'm not advocating an end to professional law enforcement, but I'm sure as heck not going to agree with just passively standing back and letting them do their jobs. The proof is in the end results. We have more professional law enforcement officers today than you can shake a stick at and we still have crime rates that are a national scandal. Crime control is just another one of those things where if you want it done right, you'd better plan on doing it yourself. I say give law enforcement back to the people where it belongs. Professional police can certainly help out, but they aren't any more a cure for crime than government schools are a cure for illiteracy.