The Cops aren’t the Problem

We often hear complaints about the manner in which police officers enforce certain laws. For example, in Georgia, police arrested Jeff Gray for holding a sign declaring “God bless the homeless vets” in front the Alpharetta City Hall. An attorney for The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which is representing Gray, said, “If our cities won’t teach officers to do their job properly, FIRE will.” However, the cops aren’t the problem. The problem is the laws that they are asked to enforce.

In the case of Gray, the city has an ordinance requiring individuals to obtain permission from government officials to have a “parade, procession, or demonstration.” It could certainly be argued that a single man holding a sign is not a parade, procession, or demonstration and officers should have exercised some discretion. However, if the law did not exist, this would be a non-issue.

The same is true of drug laws. In such cases, officers are asked to arrest people for the possession of certain drugs, even if the individuals are not violating the rights of others. The cops aren’t the problem. Drug laws are.

In both of these examples, and many others, individuals are not free to act on their own judgment. They are required to act only as government officials allow. And the cops are required to enforce these demands to toe the line.

Rather than attack the police, we should be attacking laws that require us to obtain permission before living as we choose. We should be attacking the premise that government should protect us from ourselves. We should be attacking the premise that individuals should put aside that put aside their personal desires and interests in servitude to the “public interest.”

The only proper purpose of government is the protection of individual rights. Individual rights protect our freedom to live as we choose, so long as we respect the freedom of others to do the same. But when government moves beyond that purpose, the police are asked to enforce inappropriate and immoral laws. The cops aren’t the problem. The laws that they are asked to enforce are.