The privatization of policing

I have the same reaction to stories about Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco policing. The impression I get is that these cities have deeply mismanaged police departments.

Wage theft is similar.

It can be a clear accusation. There can be a form of video footage - I can take a screenshot of the amount that is being stolen from my bank account - I'm supposed to get $1000 but only paid $800.

>Are you going to call and say "I'm being forced to work unpaid hours"?

Sure. Makes 100% sense to me. You can look at your phone GPS, see how much time you spent in the job, then match that up against your pay stub. Exact same thing - you can show them both at the same time.

>I would not envision the police showing up to arrest your employer, take them in for questioning, etc.

That's the issue. They should. It would put an nationwide end to wage theft real fast if they brought in the CEO of Apple into jail for theft.

>Wage theft is also slightly more complex in that the victims are often complicit in the sense that they continue to work for the employer.

If you go into a hotel and stay there for a week, and only pay for 2 days, then you will be charged with theft, even though the hotel knew you were there. Randy Quaid is an example of this - arrested for a $10K hotel bill in Santa Barbara. It's "theft of services" and it is no joke. If he can be arrested, why not someone who skips out of paying you wages? Same exact situation.

>you're also continuing to work for them.

The one has nothing to do with the other. The crime is the crime. But then, by your logic, if one quits and doesn't continue to work, then the employer can be arrested?

>The employer would tell the police that showed up that you were free to leave, or were agreeing to the term by virtue of showing up.

This would be like saying that if I shoplifted at a store, then came in again and purchased something from the store later, that the store owner agreed to the terms of you taking stuff without paying before, because they just sold you some more stuff. That is not how it works.

>It would take legal action, e.g. a lawyer not a cop, to actually create a claim that was actionable and enforceable by the law enforcement organization.

Stealing is stealing. The fact that a lawyer has to get involved, does not mean a cop shouldn't arrest those accused of wage theft.

But, it did give me some good ideas. I'm going to start a bunch of companies up, get people to work for me for two weeks, then never pay them and tell them to sue me. And since it is a corportation, they can sue the company but then I can just shut down the corporation. There won't be able to pierce the corporate veil, because I'm not treating it as an alter ego. Of course, I write this just to prove how ridiculous the claim is, when clearly I am stealing from employees, and gain all the benefits for myself.

Just like any other theft. If an employer is shown to commit wage theft, then they are arrested. I can pull up my GPS on my phone and show them exactly where I was during the prior week, how many hours, and if the hours don't match the paycheck, the owner gets arrested, brought to jail, booked for theft, has to hire an attorney, may get convicted and if it is a regular habitual offender type of thing, maybe get life in prison.

A 33-year-old black man named Curtis Wilkerson was waiting for his girlfriend at a mall. He went into a department store and put a pair of socks in his shopping bag, and walked out. A $2.50 pair of ordinary tube socks. He was put in jail for 25 to life because he had 2 prior convictions - being a "lookout" in a robbery. But parole is denied 80% of the time, and governors override the parole boards decision to parole them at 50% of the time, he wouldn't get out in 25 years most likely. He also got fined $2,500 for the pair of $2.50 pair of socks. Should a wage theft of $2,000 fine the manager or company $2,000,000 which is the same ratio? Sounds good to me, it would put a stop to wage theft fast. In prison, he earns $20/month, and the state takes $11 every month to pay that $2,500 fine. They take over half his earnings - do that to a business. He won't be able to pay the $2,500 fine off until he is 90 years old.

Another guy got life for stealing a slice of pizza. A guy who went away forever for lifting a pair of baby shoes. One got 50 to life for helping himself to five children’s videotapes from Kmart. One guy got life for possessing 0.14 grams of meth?

Why not life in prison for wage theft? How is it any different than anything else? Saying they "didn't know" or "was a mistake" is like a shoplifter saying the exact same thing, but the shoplifter is prosecuted anyways if they say that.

The first two lines are statements of fact. The third line:

> Alrighty then.

is a blatant dog whistle.

Even without the last line, it's not enough to simply say "just providing context!" It's a bit like jumping into a conversation about the affordable care act by saying "President Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein. He was mentored by Bill Ayers, a man the FBI described as the leader of a terrorist group."

It is all factual context, utterly irrelevant to the merits of the ACA and adds nothing to the conversation other than the prejudicial implication.

They also had riots for several months straight for political reasons. I wouldn’t be a cop there either.