The community of Sharpstown, Texas decided that they didn’t need the police any longer. They made a controversial decision to fire the local police department and hire private citizens, granted no special rights that ordinary citizens do not have, to keep them safe.

That was back in 2012, and since then, Sharpstown residents say the private security company, SEAL Security Solutions, have done a much better job than the police used to. Crimes is down 61% in only 20 months.

James Alexander, the director of operations for SEAL Security Solutions says that, “Since we’ve been in there, an independent crime study that they’ve had done [indicates] we’ve reduced the crime by 61 percent,” according to Guns.com.

All of that and they don’t have any special rights that you or I don’t have. That means they can’t arrest for misdemeanor crimes… and why should people be arrested for them anyway? It also means that they are held accountable the same way as anyone else.

The SEAL security patrolmen don’t “receive the same protection, as we are in the private sector,” Alexander said. This, he explains, leads to constant accountability and vigilance of their employees making sure they don’t do something to get fired.

They don’t have special privileges, or lobbyist groups protecting them. If they break the law, if they murder someone, they will be treated like anyone else who committed the same crimes.

But so far, nothing like that has been a problem.

How do you fire a government entity?

No, it's not possible. Google "Sharpstown Texas".

I do recall that the city of Signal Hill, outside of Long Beach CA, had a PD so corrupt that they just dissolved it completely and replaced the cops with ones from Long Beach PD.

And there was a heavy shakeup in Camden NJ a few years ago as the result of Chris Christie basically getting rid of the police force, turning it into a lawless Wild West town for a while. But they eventually came back.

Thought it was too bizarre, but then again, there are a lot of "entities" that have been traditionally "public service" that are now up for private sector take over. Given how things are going I wasn't too sure.



The amount of research these days to fact check every single thing that comes across is a way of life these days. Oxford need to put a word for that in their dictionary, since I doubt it's something that's going away anytime soon.

There presence is quite common daily. I teach an the elementary school in the area and live within the area as well. Our students are great, staff great, and for the most part the community is safe. I have been in the area for 5 years and it is generally safe.

Many of the families are newcomers to the area and to the country with a fear of law enforcement (i.e. no snitching), so if they get robbed or assaulted, many are fearful of reporting it since immigration status for these families is tenuous with many opting to stay silent. These home invasions and robberies are not uncommon, but just down the street, there are pockets of violence that even the SEAL security never venture into (MS-13, Latin Kings, various gangs). The data is somewhat misleading.

The problem with private police is lack of oversight and accountabilty which, as problematic as it may be, police forces who serve the public are subject to. How about a private military force? Anyone?

bobzilla77 said:

No, it's not possible. Google "Sharpstown Texas".

It's a mall and a subdivision around that mall. Oh, and it used to have a bank that got involved in a big scandal back in the '70's. It was named after a dude named Frank Sharp, who developed it. He went to jail, IIRC.

But there is no Sharpstown, Texas. Sharpstown is in Houston.