3.14: Where does the Police power come from?
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This article is from the Lawful Arrest/Search/Seizure FAQ, by Ahimsa Dhamapada ahimsa@mu.clarityconnect.net with numerous contributions by others.
3.14: Where does the Police power come from?
From Bastiat, _The Law_:
If every person has the right to defend (even by
force) his person, his liberty, and his property,
then it follows that a group of men have the right
to organize and support a common force to protect
these rights constantly. Thus the principle of
collective right -- its reason for existing,
its lawfulness -- is based on individual right....
He continues...
Thus, since an individual cannot lawfully use
force against the person, liberty, or property
of another individual, then the common force -
for the same reason - cannot lawfully be used
to destroy the person, liberty, or property of
individuals or groups.
Such a perversion of force would be, in both cases,
contrary to our premise. Force has been given to
us to defend our own individual rights. Who will
dare to say that force has been given to us to
destroy the equal rights of our brothers?
If this is true, then nothing can be more evident
than this: The law is the organization of the
natural right of lawful defense. It is the
substitution of a common force for individual
forces. And this common force is to do only what
the individual forces have a natural and lawful
right to do: to protect persons, liberties,
and properties; to maintain the right of each,
and to cause justice to reign over us all.
Like Bastiat, many libertarian philosophers believe that
the police power derives from the right of self-defense
and the right to contract (make friendly agreements).
When all of the able-bodied men in a village or town gather
for the purpose of self-defense, this has historically
been called the "militia". For convenience sake, we
form a mutually beneficial agreement amongst ourselves
(a contract) to delegate this power to the people we hire
for the job: the police.
Remember, essential elements of contracts are mutual
*consent*, benefit, and understanding, proper subject
matter, and adult parties. Remember these words?
"Governments ... derive their just powers from
the consent of the governed."
Governments are created when people in a society delegate
certain powers collectively to the group, but, we cannot
delegate a power which we do not enjoy as individuals.
Thus, if we do not possess the right to attack for no
good reason, then certainly we cannot delegate this to a
government that we create, or to the police.
If the police act to detain, restrain, or take property,
or worse, without the complaint of just one civilian,
then this is a violation of the social contract which
created the job. When you get detained for "speeding"
or any other petty traffic "offence" (in the absence of
a civilian complaint, or a victim with injury), you *feel*
violated, because your rights *are being* violated.
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