Over the weekend, the New York Times published a report on police violence in America, specifically taking a look at "Why so many traffic stops end in police killings."
As part of the piece, the paper examined the profiteering side of policing, and how many cities and towns across the country use their police forces as revenue machines, targeting motorists for minor infractions that eventually lead to excessive fines, arrests, and, every now and then, a police chase and/or shooting.
You know, places like the venerable Oklahoma City suburb of Valley Brook, Oklahoma.
Here's the lede from the Times report:
Harold Brown’s contribution to the local treasury began as so many others have in Valley Brook, Okla.: A police officer saw that the light above his license plate was out.
“You pulled me over for that? Come on, man,” said Mr. Brown, a security guard headed home from work at 1:30 a.m. Expressing his annoyance was all it took. The officer yelled at Mr. Brown, ordered him out of the car and threw him to the pavement.
After a trip to jail that night in 2018, hands cuffed and blood running down his face onto his uniform, Mr. Brown eventually arrived at the crux of the matter: Valley Brook wanted $800 in fines and fees. It was a fraction of the roughly $1 million that the town of about 870 people collects each year from traffic cases.
Listen. I'm not a big fan of the way policing works in this country and think the revenue-generating, profiteering aspect of law enforcement is gross, immoral and corrupt...just like some of the businesses in Valley Brook!