One of the things that bothers me is that many people insist police protection services should be free to use. 👮 There is a cost to using to government services, and one when voluntarily calls the police, they should be charged for the cost of the service — to discourage over use of the service. A $300 fee to file a police report makes a lot of sense — it’s the same fee you would pay to get access to the civil courts. 🚔 This fee would do a lot to discourage mass filers of criminal complaints — like at Walmart and other big-box stores.

If you are a victim of a crime then it makes sense to pay the proposed $300 fee for filing a police report. Crime is expensive to it’s victims — especially when you figure the cost of hospital bills for injuries and loss of use of stolen or damaged property. 🚨 It’s also expensive to local government to investigate and punish. If you are harmed by a criminal, it’s worthwhile to pay the $300 fee to get justice. After paying for the police report, you can ask a court for reimbursement for your losses, after the perpetrator of the crime is successfully convicted.⚖

There is the thought that poor people might be less likely to report crime, if they knew they would have to pay $300 to the local police department to have their report of crime investigated. 🔍 But actually that’s the idea — to reduce police utilization, you have to charge people for filing a police report. You could also set up not-for-profits that could assist impoverished people in covering police filing fees. This would ensure even poor people have access to police services.💰

Too often people are abusing “free” police services, getting the state involved when they could find their own solutions to problems impacting their lives.