More Private Mercenary Police Begin Enforcing Law on the PublicBy Eric Blair This past September, I wrote an article Blackwater-like contractor seeks to legalize private police in the U.S. which exposed how private security firms were being subcontracted for police raids. Outrage ensued. This followed a bungled attempt in 2009 to introduce the private foreign-owned American Police Force to Harding, Montana. It seems the public has an aversion to large paramilitary contractors sweeping in and claiming police powers. Enter the small, independent, rugged, righteous citizen on patrol. A vigilante of peace. Ah, yes, this is the angle the establishment is now using to get private police accepted on the streets. The Washington Post ran a carefully crafted article yesterday; Private police carry guns and make arrests, and their ranks are swelling: The stop was routine police work, except for one fact: Youlen is not a Manassas officer. The citation came courtesy of the private force he created that, until recently, he called the Manassas Junction Police Department. He is its chief and sole officer. He is a force of one. And he is not alone. Like more and more Virginians, Youlen gained his police powers using a little-known provision of state law that allows private citizens to petition the courts for the authority to carry a gun, display a badge and make arrests. The number of special conservators of the peace or SCOPs, as they are known has doubled in Virginia over the past decade to roughly 750, according to state records. The very next sentence is where the deception occurs: The growth is mirrored nationally in the ranks of private police, who increasingly patrol corporate campuses, neighborhoods and museums as the demand for private security has increased and police services have been cut in some places. Do you see what they did there? Very subtle. The Washington Post conflated private police for law enforcement with private security for private property. Big difference. Its the same confusion shared by TPM and TIME. In theory, I agree completely with the common-law origins of these special conservators of the peace (SCOPS) which allows citizens to use necessary force to protect private establishments or make a citizens arrest when obvious crimes are underway. I know many free-market libertarians who believe private firms would be more accountable than police are now. That may be true if we had laws that reflect the Constitution or a free market of laws, but since violence will be used against someone selling loose cigarettes on the street, or to detain people at black sites these private entities could easily be bribed into bad behavior. Why do I have visions of judges selling innocent children into private prisons flashing through my mind? Or mercenary firms stealing from people because theyre empowered by loose civil forfeiture laws? Or refusing to turn over their records because they claim private corporate status, like Massachusetts SWAT recently did? The troubling example given by The Washington Post about where these entities are being increasingly used is for code enforcement. Most SCOPs patrol corporate campuses, work for neighborhood associations or perform code enforcement for counties or cities, but Youlen has pushed the model further by creating his own department and turning policing into an enterprise. He contracts his services to nine apartment and housing communities in the Manassas area. Thats up from one in 2012. This is where their deliberate confusion gets dangerous. Corporate campuses and neighborhood associations are private property. Theyre free to hire private security. Using armed mercenaries for code enforcement is unfathomably dangerous. Especially since more people are realizing that building and zoning codes are displacing property rights at a blazing speed. What happens when a private security guard protects his property against a private zoning soldier? It is true that municipalities are increasingly hiring private police and firms to be petty rule enforcers. However, they usually are some power-tripping geek in a polo shirt as seen in a recent clash with Adam Kokesh. What happens to Adam and other citizen activists when this guy is carrying an assault rifle and has the same arbitrary arrest powers as current police? Of note, the paramilitary private police from my above-mentioned article, Lear, also failed to identify themselves. At least our police are still required by law to identify themselves because any thug with a gun and a uniform can abuse, steal from, and kidnap people otherwise. If we allow the police to be privatized to enforce our overreaching laws, to be empowered by warrantless surveillance, civil forfeiture, detention and arrest powers and perhaps for-profit arrest quotas, its not difficult to imagine where all this is all headed. Eric Blair writes and curates news for selfnewsPost.com This article is free to repost in full as long as attribution and links remain. Recently byEric Blair In order to maintain the safety and security for ones self, family, and community from the consequences of invading barbarians force must be met with force MOST of the american people WILL NOT SURVIVE the coming war,They just dont care about anything,even their children are worthless to them,THIS nation has become the most moraly corrupt,depraved nation to ever exsist..ITS ending,get ready for RED DAWN..and the BIG asteroid.. When and if Private Police Officers try and arrest you or cite you for anything, you can tell them to do suck eggs. They have no authority to detain you and are not a part of the state, and if they pull a gun on you, you have a right to defend yourself even if it means the death of the phony officer. Just because they produce a badge and maybe even a piece of paper by the court, does not give them any rights over you. PERIOD !! If they believe just because they have a badge or at least produce something that looks like an official badge believing erroneously that they have been dually deputized by the state, you still do not have to obey them. They have NO AUTHORITY !! These morons are the same type of man which was hired by the Fresno school district to police the districts schools from its own police department, who then beat an 80 year old grandmother trying to bring cookies to her grand-kids. These brutal men are generally ex-veterans or just plain psychopathic individuals, who like the job of being, in their mind, in danger because they love the adrenaline rush they get out of strong-arming someone. If any person tries to pull this in your city or town, get in the Mayors face about a recall if he doesnt stop this idiocy immediately !! Are you trying to say that just because a person may be a Veteran he has some psychological issues? Be advised that veterans are more than likely to be more stable than other areas of society and dont need more bad publicity as they get enough from the current administration. This just gives our worthless bottom feeders A.K.A. our so called leaders,A.K.A Regressive Libs, an out. So they dont have to answer ,for all the people , police swat teams will have to murder, in, the enforcing the law ! Except these private hit squads, will be given some form of law giving them immunity !!! Something along the line, of a L.L.C. So there will be no legal recourse against them!! Just the force you need for gun confiscation!! Perfect for all us, 2nd Amendment/ home grown/ Constitutionalist / enemy combatant types!!!! P.S. This also brings to mind the private security that companies used to union bust picketers They should remember, It didnt always go good for the private Dicks !! what kind of morons live in California, I never heard of an Ambassador for Santa Monica, they are shoveling Shit on the peoples faces. What is this clowns training? Was he in the military or attend an accredited police academy? Enough is enough of our Constitutional Rights being s**t on. Its headed to civil war. This is why we have the 2nd amendment and you defend yourselves against tyranny. What about when they try to arrest a real police officer? Id love to see that video. The stage is being set for bloody civil war and its these busy bodies that will meet their fate first. Correct me if Im wrong here. Private police or Security are fully liable for any damage they do to people or property. In 2 virtually identical cases where the police killed an unarmed, non threatening man, the Government cops got away with murder. The private cops went to jail. (cant find the link right now) IFand thats a big IF our courts uphold the laws, then private police would be accountable. Once these psychos and nazis start getting jail time, they would be very careful, and maybe seek a different profession. 