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by devb 882 days ago
> Which isn't true, the government must also protect you from arbitrary violence.

"The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the police did not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm"

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-po...

2 comments

How could the Court have ruled otherwise? It would just defy common sense to say that the police are responsible to prevent physical harm coming to any person in their jurisdiction. Unless you were to have a police officer stationed at each resident's house, there would be no reasonable way to hold the police responsible.

A separate but related issue: If I see a toddler walking on the railroad tracks and I see a train coming -- but with plenty of time to intervene without placing myself at significant risk -- am I obligated to save the toddler. I think inaction is such a situation is not against the law, at least for an ordinary citizen, but anyone who hears the particulars of the incident will hold me in deep contempt.

It may not be a constitutional duty, as outlined in the case, but it’s still their job. If they aren’t enforcing the law and court orders, what are they doing?

I do my job because it’s my job, not because of a constitutional obligation.