Private police carry guns and make arrests, and their ranks are swelling

[n2doc]

Michael Youlen stopped a driver in a Manassas, Virginia, apartment complex on a recent night and wrote the man a ticket for driving on a suspended license. With a badge on his chest and a gun on his hip, Youlen gave the driver a stern warning to stay off the road.

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.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-private-police-20150301-story.html#page=1

Right wingers dream come true.....

[kelliekat44]

1. We use to call them vigilantes. nt

[kelliekat44]

2. So they have taken off the hoods and put on badges? nt

[Renew Deal]

3. Who gets the money from the summons?

[FLPanhandle]

16. That was my first question

Sounds shady.

[Jackpine Radical]

4. Just what a society needs--

All kinds of wannabe cops running around with badges & guns, enforcing their quaint notions of the law.

I wonder if that Supreme Court ruling about it being OK for cops to stop & search people based on the cops' faulty understanding of the law extends to these guys. I don't see why not. If they think it's the law that they can stop you for looking at them funny, who's to gainsay them if they thus stop you & then maybe beat you to a pulp because you didn't get out of the car fast enough & their understanding of the law permits them to meet your "resistance" with force?


Or maybe ya got a Flying Spaghetti Monster on your car & Barney decides this is a Christian state…

Anyway, you get the idea.

[marym625]

8. unbelievable

Just truly, unbelievable.

[stone space]

5. Needs to arrested, jailed, and all of his gunz confiscated for life. (nt)

[Tommy_Carcetti]

6. Yeah. More Zimmermans.

How lovely.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. He can't read this. He's in a Uhaul on the way to Virginia.

[marym625]

7. unbelievable

[hootinholler]

10. The articel is behind a fucking paywall. n/t

[n2doc]

12. Which can be gotten around in 2 ways

1. turn off javascript
2. google the title of the article and come in that way.

[yuiyoshida]

11. So I guess there will be a

RoboCop in our new future?

[tridim]

13. Reminds me of Dr. Schultz' job in Django Unchained.

Problem is it's 2015, not 1858.

[lpbk2713]

14. I would ignore the traffic ticket.

Let the court prove the citation is a recognized legal document.
Then I would sue for the harrassment and the waste of my time.

[uponit7771]

15. +1

[packman]

17. WTF!

Unbelievable. Do they have sirens, lights on top, special decorated cars with official looking shit on it, etc.? If I was pulled over by one of these asshats, there would be all sorts of trouble. Expect a concealed gun carrier and a SCOP to have a shoot-out soon.

"SPECIAL CONSERVATORS" - Jesus, does that ring all sorts of alarms.

[Taitertots]

18. Tilt the balance. Everyone on DU should become one

Everyone should flood the system until it collapses under it's own stupidiety.

[Telcontar]

19. Why is it so few people recognize that option

I've long thought the solution to organizations opposed to my ideology was to join them and work for change from inside.

Must be why I'm here on DU...

[moondust]

20. No job? No prospects?

Strap on a gun and be a cop!

Wield authority!

Command respect!

Shoot people!

[dilby]

21. Since when did you need a valid drivers license to drive on private property?

I would straight up fight that right there, then fight that it was not a law enforcement officer who gave me the ticket. Furthermore I would not have stopped for the rent a cop in the first place.