[ORioN63]

There's a narrative that I hear often about Corvo island:

Corvo is a small island in the Azores archipelago, which is home to less than 500 habitants.

Every time a police officer, joins the island, it usually has a bit of a tough time, as it tries to write fines and issue warnings to the small population. The small population, not only disregard its orders, but they actually shut them out.

Since there's very few establishments, the police officer, eventually, has to comply with the population.

To be honest, I don't know how much truth there is, in this story, but I don't find it hard to believe.

[float4]

A decent next step would be to send more than one police officer, but it probably isn't really worth it.

[simonh]

Would doubling the cost, or more, actually provide double the benefits? At the end of the day it's the police officer who has the duty to protect and serve.

[andylynch]

This is what we wound up doing with Pitcairn.

[dclowd9901]

It’s almost impossible to imagine this in light of the “all or nothing” approach American law enforcement has toward its job. Would it really be as simple as ignoring the police that would undermine their authority?

[jfoutz]

it's a question of scale. in a small town of 120, yes, absolutely. In a city of a million, it's hard to get everyone to hold the line. A few fall, which causes more to lose their nerve, and more fall, and authority is enforced.

but a group of say 500? that know each other on sight? Sure.

I grew up in a small town in the US southwest. There's a reason Texas has successful defenses for murder that were "he needed killing". It can be terrifying to be on the wrong side of a popularity contest.

[pjc50]

It only works with a lone police officer. It's extremely hard to cope with being totally socially excluded on a remote island. Any situation where the police themselves can form a community because there's enough of them, this approach won't work.

(I would note that one of the great American novels, To Kill A Mockingbird, deals precisely with the loneliness of trying to administer justice without community support)

Then there's horror classic The Wicker Man, about a police officer sent to a remote island to investigate a vanished girl and wall of silence ...

[tallanvor]

American law enforcement doesn't dictate how law enforcement ends up working in Portugal...