Safe Fail
Recently, an Augusta (GA) TV station reported: "Those who live, work and shop in downtown Aiken (SC) will not have to worry as much about their safety." The story concerned the installation of 'security cameras' to be installed in downtown Aiken, as announced in Mayor Rick Osborne's recent 'State of the City" address. Introducing a video report, the newsreader emphasized the plan was being implemented to "help keep people safe." (Emphasis theirs)
Here is a perfect example of the lie foisted on citizens by Government via the Media that’s been going on for decades; essentially: "Government will keep you safe", "Laws will keep you safe", "Police will keep you safe." Spoiler Alert: They don't and they don't have to.
Repeated Supreme Court decisions supporting that depressing reality here: Warren v. District of Columbia, DeShaney v. Winnebago County, Gonzales v. Castle Rock and multiple other cases.
If Police actually prevent a crime, it is more likely due to time and circumstantial presence rather than Hi-Tech and Crime Prevention theories.
Aside from misleading the Public about "keeping you safe", the only tangible accomplishment from acquiring cool tech toys like "security cameras" is Government agencies having another way to grow, squandering tax-payer dollars.
Remember, the Government's promise: "These cameras will help keep you safe."
A few rowdy drunks caught on camera make for exciting TV News fodder and a bunch of YouTube vids. But it ignores the Big Lie: neither the cameras nor the cops "keep you safe."
Assume the worst: You are one of the hapless women in the story, strolling "in downtown Aiken on Laurens Street and Richland Avenue during the evening" – and you're raped. After you've been assaulted and violated, the rapist runs away. The Mayor's New Security Cameras catch it all on video and, hopefully, the perp is quickly found and arrested.
As your treatment in the hospital continues, does the news of his apprehension suddenly make you feel better? Does his incarceration heal your wounds? Restore your mental health? Alleviate your trauma? Will you be able to go back to enjoying your life again? Or will the memory of the horror stay with you forever? Will the nightmares continue? Will you ever walk in downtown after dark again?
Did the new Security Cameras really "keep you "safe"? Or did they just make the cops' job easier?
Many will read this as a bad rap on the police; it isn't. It's an effort to dispel the common and dangerous misconception of the Government's' good intentions, often nullified by actual events in the Real World.
Paraphrasing Smokey Bear: Only you can keep yourself safe through situational awareness, appropriate prevention and self-defense measures like education and training.
The next show on tape could be you exercising your right to self-defense, avoiding or disabling the criminal while police watching the monitors take notes on a citizen exercising personal responsibility and the unalienable right to self-defense; cameras or no cameras.
Bottom line: You are responsible for you. Not the Mayor, Security Cameras, Police or Government. Just you. Prepare accordingly or face the real probability of painful disappointment.
Here is a perfect example of the lie foisted on citizens by Government via the Media that’s been going on for decades; essentially: "Government will keep you safe", "Laws will keep you safe", "Police will keep you safe." Spoiler Alert: They don't and they don't have to.
Repeated Supreme Court decisions supporting that depressing reality here: Warren v. District of Columbia, DeShaney v. Winnebago County, Gonzales v. Castle Rock and multiple other cases.
If Police actually prevent a crime, it is more likely due to time and circumstantial presence rather than Hi-Tech and Crime Prevention theories.
Aside from misleading the Public about "keeping you safe", the only tangible accomplishment from acquiring cool tech toys like "security cameras" is Government agencies having another way to grow, squandering tax-payer dollars.
Remember, the Government's promise: "These cameras will help keep you safe."
A few rowdy drunks caught on camera make for exciting TV News fodder and a bunch of YouTube vids. But it ignores the Big Lie: neither the cameras nor the cops "keep you safe."
Assume the worst: You are one of the hapless women in the story, strolling "in downtown Aiken on Laurens Street and Richland Avenue during the evening" – and you're raped. After you've been assaulted and violated, the rapist runs away. The Mayor's New Security Cameras catch it all on video and, hopefully, the perp is quickly found and arrested.
As your treatment in the hospital continues, does the news of his apprehension suddenly make you feel better? Does his incarceration heal your wounds? Restore your mental health? Alleviate your trauma? Will you be able to go back to enjoying your life again? Or will the memory of the horror stay with you forever? Will the nightmares continue? Will you ever walk in downtown after dark again?
Did the new Security Cameras really "keep you "safe"? Or did they just make the cops' job easier?
Many will read this as a bad rap on the police; it isn't. It's an effort to dispel the common and dangerous misconception of the Government's' good intentions, often nullified by actual events in the Real World.
Paraphrasing Smokey Bear: Only you can keep yourself safe through situational awareness, appropriate prevention and self-defense measures like education and training.
The next show on tape could be you exercising your right to self-defense, avoiding or disabling the criminal while police watching the monitors take notes on a citizen exercising personal responsibility and the unalienable right to self-defense; cameras or no cameras.
Bottom line: You are responsible for you. Not the Mayor, Security Cameras, Police or Government. Just you. Prepare accordingly or face the real probability of painful disappointment.
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