Yesterday, I was so bored out of my skull when I wandered into that weird area of Youtube again. The area with the “Faces of Death”, police shooutouts and muggings caught on camera.
For some places in America, the response would be“Yes, we have a law and order problem, but it’s a fun, exciting place in spite of it.” Which is understandable, since most people don’t have the skills, knowledge, or resources to tear away at a problem grounded in crappy institutions, on an individual level.
And depressing as it may be, I can live with that (most of the time). But if there are others who have more time, energy, strength of character, and wherewithal than I do, this post goes out to you.
Obviously, there are no magic bullets that can fix the situation, but there do seem to be a few clear starting points. And in true RPG geek style, i’ve noted some talents/proficiencies that might be useful for dealing with them.
Police reform. This is the most obvious one, but it’s also the area i’m least equipped to comment on, so I won’t bother.
Government spending. Do you believe outdated equipment or insufficent training were at least partly to blame? Then you’ll need to consider how to fund a solution. Meaning you’ll probably want to account for how the national budget is spent; particularly allotment meant to improve law enforcement, more than just mace, batons, or heck, even frying pans for some overburdened precincts.
Useful skills (trained): investigative reporting, accounting, knowledge: law
Gun control. I don’t mean tougher policy; I mean real hands-on enforcement. I don’t know the practical ways of obtaining a heavy firearm but i’ll hazard a guess that it’s not difficult, with the right connections. What practical measures can be taken to reduce that? Even with the ban on automatic weapons, it’s still laughably easy to procure a high-powered firearm with minimal background checking.
Civic vigilance sounds noble on paper, but there are real physical dangers involved, and (presumably) none of us is the Goddamn Batman.
It’s rather ironic that there’s often a load of red tape and waiting time to book appointments or get quality legit services (financial, utilities, etc.) in this city, and yet accessing deadly weapons appears frighteningly convenient.
Useful skills (trained): streetwise, influence: leadership, persuasion, knowledge: law; self-defense, economics : microeconomics
Administrative reform. This is related to the direct motivation behind the hostage-taking, more than anything else. I don’t know enough about the institution itself to decide, but maybe somebody else here might.
Useful skills (trained): systems analysis, influence: management, knowledge: public administration, knowledge: law