Our Tax Dollars at Work

This last week, I responded to a call for service in which I had to assist in an investigation of an unattended death. Most cops will tell you that an investigation of this kind can be either extremely simple or extremely complicated. In my experience though, with over nine years on patrol, I can tell you that it's fairly rare for me to experience fury in the course of an investigation like this - especially when the person in question dies of apparently natural causes.

As part of the investigation, my partners and I had to search the decedent's room in order to find a means of identification and determine if he or she was in the care of a doctor, and, if so, for what reasons. This is purely routine, and, however sad the death of a person may be, the process has become fairly mundane. In this instance, I was able to find enough information to identify the person who died, discover that he was being paid $850/month in SSI benefits and that he had been prescribed several kinds of medication. Passing on this information to dispatch, I asked for a records check of the decedent and was stunned to learn that he was a parolee at large and had a warrant for his arrest. And, there you have it: one of the innumerable ways in which the government wastes your money and mine- by materially assisting a criminal as he absconds from justice.

I can't even begin to explore all the questions we, as citizens, should be asking when confronted by a situation like this. Don't think, even for an instant, though, that this situation is unique in any way. I will say this, though: we in law enforcement have a hard enough time keeping up with and capturing criminals who rely on their own resources or ingenuity. We don't need the Federal Government to help some criminals remain at large. There is no ethical or rational justification for redistributing any citizen's income to a person who rightfully ought to be incarcerated. You would think that, if a person has a warrant for their arrest, there would be a simultaneous process which cuts that person off from funds which are publicly sourced from taxes. I'd like to think that no one's income would be used to facilitate a criminal's evasion of justice.