THE LIGHTHOUSE "Enlightening Ideas for Public Policy..." VOL. 3, ISSUE 21 May 29, 2001 Welcome to The Lighthouse, the e-mail newsletter of The Independent Institute, the non-politicized, public policy research organization <http://www.independent.org>. We provide you with updates of the Institute's current research publications, events and media programs. Do you know someone who would enjoy THE LIGHTHOUSE? Please forward this message to a friend. If they like it, they can add themselves to the list at http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/Lighthouse.html. ------------------------------------------------------------- IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE: 1. The Federal Bureau of Incompetence 2. Integrating Immigrants 3. Happy Birthday, Patrick Henry ------------------------------------------------------------- THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INCOMPETENCE The American people justifiably feel sickened by the FBI's mishandling of evidence in the Timothy McVeigh case, but they shouldn't be surprised, according to economist Bruce Benson, senior fellow at The Independent Institute. "The FBI's failure to divulge reams of evidence to McVeigh's lawyers is just the latest bungle in a history stretching back to when President Theodore Roosevelt created its predecessor, the Bureau of Investigation," writes Benson in a new op-ed. "Regrettably, blunders and cover-ups are not confined to the FBI. Despite cover-up attempts, similar scandals involving both state and local prosecutors and police show that misrepresentation and even falsification of forensic evidence occurs regularly." At the root of the systemic problems that plague public law-enforcement, Benson argues, is poor accountability. Yet strong accountability (and its offshoot, innovation) is the norm in the private sector. This, according to Benson, explains why governments are increasingly contracting with the private sector for police dispatch, investigative services, fingerprinting, crime labs, traffic control, data processing, prisoner transport and other traditional police functions. Between 1964 and 1997, in fact, the number of specialized security firms grew by more than 800 percent, while employment by these firms grew by almost 925 percent. This trend is explained by the simple fact that in police services, as in other services, customers tend to get what they pay for. For example: * In 1992, the 2,565 private railroad police employed by major railroads had a clearance rate (reported crimes cleared by arrest) 2.86 times greater than the clearance rate for public police. * In the 1970s, a private investigation firm was contracted to look into police corruption in small towns in Ohio and West Virginia. Within months, the firm's efforts led to more than 150 arrests. * After a drug scandal in 1993, the town of Sussex, New Jersey, replaced its tiny four-officer police force with private policing firm. Contracting out for policing is a common practice in Switzerland and the Bahamas. "Calls on Congress to once again investigate the FBI miss the mark," concludes Benson. "Changing the political and bureaucratic delivery of policing services requires fundamental reform, and the growth of the private security industry strongly suggests how those reforms ought to take shape." See Bruce Benson's op-ed, "The Countervailing Trend to FBI Failures: A Return to Privatized Police Services," at http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-21-1.html. Also see: "Poll: 4 out of 10 Americans don't trust FBI" (USA Today, 5/24/01) http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-21-2.html. TO SERVE AND PROTECT: Privatization and Community in Criminal Justice, by Bruce Benson (The Independent Institute/New York University Press, 1998) http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-21-3.html. The Independent Institute's archive on crime policy: http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-21-4.html. ------------------------------------------------------------- INTEGRATING IMMIGRANTS The best way for state governments to help integrate immigrants into American life is to promote private schooling, according to Alex Tabarrok, research director at The Independent Institute. In his testimony before the State of California's Little Hoover Commission, Tabarrok argued that private schooling is the most effective way to foster proficiency in the English language -- the single most important skill for immigrants to learn. California's public high schools, Tabarrok noted, have appalling student dropout rates: 32 percent overall and about 45 percent for immigrants. Dropout rates for similar students are much lower in private schools. California's public schools also have little room for educational diversity, experimentation or competition. In the heated debate over bilingual education, no one questioned why politicians, bureaucrats and voters should decide a question best left to parents and educators. Private education is much better at matching students with teaching styles and curricula best suited to their individual needs. Private schools are a benefit to native students as well as immigrants. Lower dropout rates and greater college attendance for natives reduces potential conflicts in the labor market between low-skilled natives and immigrants. Tabarrok also called for repealing laws and regulations that impede entrepreneurship among immigrants, such as city regulations that have eroded jitney services often run by immigrants and other economic outsiders. Tabarrok also noted that immigrant integration is not always desirable. Immigrants, for example, often have stronger families, high rates of entrepreneurship, and lower crime rates than do natives, especially for their education and income levels. "If natives had the same institutionalization rate as immigrants," Tabarrok said, "our jails and prisons would have one-third fewer inmates." For Alex Tabarrok's Testimony on Immigrant Integration, see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-21-5.html. For the Independent Institute's archives on immigration, see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-21-6.html. ------------------------------------------------------------- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PATRICK HENRY "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" --Patrick Henry (b. 5/29/1736, d. 6/6/1799) Memorial Day may get more fanfare, but for lovers of liberty Patrick Henry's birthday is even more significant. While there is no denying the need for a day of remembrance for the Americans who have died in battle, what made their sacrifices meaningful is the principle behind the American Ideal -- the principle articulated most passionately in Patrick Henry's immortal words, "give me liberty, or give me death." Ironic though it may at first seem, Henry's fighting words are the words of a peacemaker. For the only lasting peace is one that arises from an embrace of the principle of liberty -- peace and liberty are two sides of the coin of a voluntary society. And the sooner that the United States and other governments learn this, the less likely that they will add to the list of those we remember on Memorial Day. Patrick Henry also reminds us that liberty is not secured overnight. A decade after the American Revolution, Henry fought hard to secure the Bill of Rights; he recognized that an unlimited federal government could be just as tyrannical as the British monarchy. Patrick Henry should thus be remembered for both his principles and his realism. A heart and mind united, Henry was a patriot to whom Americans will always remain in debt. Happy Birthday, Patrick Henry! For Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death" speech, see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-21-7.html. For an enlightening perspective on the American Revolution, see Gerald Gunderson's review of Theodore Draper's book, THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER: The American Revolution, at: http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-21-8.html. ------------------------------------------------------------- THE LIGHTHOUSE is made possible by the generous contributions of supporters of The Independent Institute. 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