The Shadow-gloom and Weight of the Sacred

This morning I heard "In Denver Taxis, Extra Eyes on Street for Police" on NPR's program Morning Edition. The police in Denver have recruited taxi drivers to watch for criminal behavior as they are out taking care of their normal taxi cab duties. Also, should a crime occur, taxi cab drivers are asked to look out for the suspects. So, if a car is stolen and the police dispatch a description of the car and/or the suspect, the cab drivers will keep their eyes open and call 911 if they should happen across the suspect. A bright "Taxis on Patrol" sticker is placed on the back windshield of participating taxi cabs.

According to the story, it's not only about curbing criminal behavior, as one cab driver describes an instance when he came across two elderly men who were clearly unable to provide for their own needs. He reported this to the authorities so that the two men could receive the attention and care that they needed.

It seems like a pretty smart idea: police outsource patrol duties to the private sector, and I believe that all the cab drivers volunteer--they receive no compensation from the city. So, the overhead on this program is pretty low (it does appear that there is some sort of console device installed in participating cabs, and the cab drivers also must complete a safety program). And, everyone in Denver seems happy with the program, according to Morning Edition, at least.

Personally, I'm a little skeptical. I may be a little too sensitive, but in a world where the Patriot Act is blindly renewed time and time again, this taxi cab patrol feels a little too KGB for my taste. It concerns me that the state is seeking out everyday working citizens to play a role in law enforcement. Sure, it doesn't seem a like a big deal if cabbies are looking out for a stolen car or reporting an assault, but what if they are asked to start reporting "suspected" illegal immigrants? I don't think that's too farfetched considering our current political climate and the way we use nationalist fervor to excuse poor behavior, even hateful behavior, towards our fellow human beings.

But, that's just a potential problem (as far as I know), a potential pitfall. A hypothetical possibility that may never happen, just don't count me as surprised if it does happen.

I've been thinking a lot lately about community and individualism. I've been thinking about community as an ideal to be favored over individualism. The Taxis on Patrol program is something that seems to perpetuate individualism in a dangerous way. I could be way off on this; I haven't done research and I have little personal experience, but I tend to think that one of the problems with crime is that we aren't involved in our neighborhoods. All those things discussed (in great length) in Robert Putnam's book Bowling Alone, well, I think if we were more civically involved crime would drop, and that this is actually the best way to fight crime. But, we're becoming more reclusive. We pull into the garage and a machine lowers the door down behind us. We live our lives out on the internet and pursue our adventures through large-screen televisions with surround sound. We're consistently becoming less involved in our neighborhoods and less a part of the lives of our neighbors.

I could be way off, but I wonder if, in the long run, Taxis on Patrol won't prove to be more detrimental to society than beneficial as we hide away in our homes and farm out the responsibilities of society to those who will accept them.