Back in the 80’s, I spent as much time as possible in Baja, Mexico. The only thing about Baja that I didn’t like was traveling the Tijuana gauntlet, where every parked car might hide a “traffic sign” serving as an ATM for one of the city’s cops.
John Oliver recently described the tactic that many American cities are using to tax their citizens and other victims in a segment called “Municipal Violations.” This story, and reality, is evidence that the United States has become a 3rd world collection of urban and state dictatorships “using fines to fund government.”
Tijuana cops had an excuse. They didn’t get paid to be cops. In fact, like bell boys in upscale New York hotels, they had to pay their sergeants for their jobs. The only income they were allowed to “earn” came from trapping white Americans on their way through the town to Ensenada or hunting for a “theater” that features 13 year old girls getting it on with donkeys. One difference between Tijuana cops and American cops is that the American cops are grossly overpaid, underworked, and largely useless. The Tijuana cops were actually pretty good when it came time for them to do their job of protecting the public. Another difference is that the Tijuana cops understood they were shaking down the public to feed their families. American cops present a fake image of enforcing the law while they pad their pockets with stolen loot, inflated pensions, and a slacker’s work day that would embarrass one of the Bush or Koch kids.
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