Leveraging public safety uncertainty

The fear is your choice, but uncertainty often fuels that feeling. Those seeking funding for public safety leverage our uncertainly to purchase new “action figures”. It seems to be a very successful method to maintain steady, healthy funding.

Since 9/11, homeland (which has a weird ring of Vaterland to me, but that’s another column) security has become a booming business. Ike’s “military industrial complex” concept, or rather reality, now has a sibling…the homeland security industrial (very uncoordinated) complex.

Chiseled, muscled, sunglassed, menacing officers in sleek assault-mobiles protect us. That’s what we see on the street, but there’s more as we well know to this public safety infrastructure. At over 16,000 murders last year in the US, the war rages. No figures available on casualties. Our southern national border is becoming more like a DMZ, maybe soon a walled free fire zone.

Terror cells, home-grown, not many imports now. I suppose we need to listen when public safety officials officiate. The alternative is uncertainty, and that can be frightening.

We have a slew of hopefully networked and coordinated agencies, protecting us. The whole idea of protection is uncertain these days as well. It’s a very reactive business, with proactive capabilities, but face it, it’s been a steady growth industry since 2001.

So, when a police chief says spend, people listen…if they ignore the invoice, the price later may be a much higher, scary amount…

the painting above...Persephone by Thomas Hart Benton...see it at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City...