You know I wonder why more police don’t use mail summons rather than arrest 👮

One of the most dangerous things for a law enforcement officer to do is to stop somebody on the street or intervene in a situation. It’s much safer to observe, secure evidence and when a criminal case is fully developed mail a court summons to an alleged offender.

Rather than intervening in crime, law enforcement would focus on documenting it and providing the evidence to court. Let the criminal do the harm he or she is going to do but make sure that they fully pay for their actions later on in court by collecting good evidence.

The fact is law enforcement has never had as much ability as now to record the public in public places, check various databases, preform facial recognition. An alleged crime can be documented and presented to a judge and a summons issued by mail.

Many people might just pay the fine and there would be no actual physical interaction between law enforcement and the offenders. But for more serious charges, the alleged violation would be adjudicated in a secure court room with metal detectors and other security devices.

A more passive approach to law enforcement may be more effective. People wouldn’t know when they are being surveilled or if they were going to get summoned to court for wrong doing. This would encourage more compliance with the law.

Some might argue that not everybody would voluntarily comply with a summons, especially for a serious crime that could involve a lengthy prison sentence. But that ignores the ability of government to impound paychecks and assets and severely limit access to various government services like the DMV. And where necessary, issue an arrest warrant and execute it in the safest possible environment – like an office, a courthouse or secure public building.