Fighting Geese, Homeless Cops, and 8 More Unconventional Methods of Fighting Crime
Law enforcement agencies around the world have an important job: they are required to enforce the law, protect the rights and property of citizens, and prevent disorder. However, the methods by which they achieve these goals can vary dramatically from country to country. Let's look at ten unique and unusual ways that law enforcement agencies fight crime. This overview will show how diverse the approaches to this area can be.
In 2010, Bien Unido Mayor Nino Rey Bonyel came up with an unusual plan to combat illegal fishing in the area. Given that the Philippines is largely a devout Catholic nation, the mayor ordered two 13-foot-tall statues of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ to be sunk to the ocean floor. Bonyel said they would serve as a powerful reminder to poachers of the importance of caring for wildlife. The statues also served as an unexpected tourist draw to the area, as it became popular for divers to pay homage to the sacred underwater grotto.
The 20th century is remembered for its repressive regimes. When you hear the word “repression,” the Gestapo immediately comes to mind. In fact, the GDR’s State Security Service, known as the Stasi, was unrivaled in intimidating political opponents. Jochen Gierke, former head of the operational psychology department at the Stasi Higher Academy, has revealed the psychological tactics that Stasi operatives used against political opponents. They sent allegedly ordered goods (often of compromising content) to the homes of undesirable politicians, broke into their cars and parked them on the sidewalk, and even sent children’s coffins to their homes (if the politician’s family had children).
In the capital of Northern Ireland, Belfast, social problems are nothing new. For many years, the streets of the city have been the scene of clashes between religious fanatics – Catholics and Protestants. When violence reaches particularly threatening proportions, police units armed with shields, batons and water cannons take to the streets. In 2011, an armored police Land Rover was surrounded by about 15 teenagers who were throwing glass bottles at the vehicle.
Instead of using violence against violence, the officers decided to play music that usually plays from ice cream vans over the car's loudspeaker. According to a police spokesman, the unconventional move had the desired effect - the "bottle shooting" stopped.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes is a Latin phrase that roughly translates to "Who will guard the guardians?" This question has been asked of the police throughout their history. The police exist to enforce the law and serve the public, but who will hold the police accountable for their illegal actions? Bangkok Police Chief Pongpat Chaiyapan has introduced an unusual rule for his subordinates. Negligent police officers who are caught behaving inappropriately are forced to wear a bright pink armband with a picture of Hello Kitty.
If providing intimate services for monetary compensation is called the oldest profession, then men can rightfully be considered the oldest users of these services. However, this argument is not taken into account in the USA (except for the state of Nevada), where a "night butterfly" can be arrested right on the street.
But in 2014, the guardians of morality from the Richmond, California police went much further and carried out, although quite controversial, but nevertheless quite effective action against immoral clients who, despite the prohibitions, still risked using the services of women of easy virtue. As a result, the photos of the would-be lovers were published on Facebook. For obvious reasons, nothing is reported about the results of the campaign.
Despite the fact that in the mid-1960s the Beatles had already gained wild worldwide popularity, the population was strictly forbidden to listen to the hits of the legendary Liverpool four, and even more so to imitate or copy their clothes, hairstyles, behavior. Well, Beatlemaniacs did not fit into the "bright" image of the builder of communism.
The fight against Beatlemania reached the point of absurdity. The police arrested people who wore "Beatle" haircuts and forcibly shaved their heads. Was not the only country in which certain fashions were banned in order to maintain political stability. The authoritarian government of South Korea in the 1960s and 1970s introduced a ban on long haircuts for men and "indecent" clothing for women.
When it comes to guarding property, dogs are simply irreplaceable. However, the Chinese authorities in Xinjiang Province have started training geese to serve in various police stations. Although this may seem like a strange decision, it actually makes sense. Geese are incredibly brave: if they see a stranger, they will often attack them without hesitation and make a loud noise. These birds have excellent hearing and excellent eyesight.
Chinese border guards also use combat geese. Bird patrols patrol a section of the border with Vietnam that stretches 184 kilometers by land and 22 kilometers by water, with many paths and tracks. It is difficult to monitor such an area, so in June 2021, the military took these birds into service - as an experiment. As practice shows, the birds do an excellent job of finding illegal immigrants.
A Toronto police officer in the East End once donned a hoodie, baseball cap, jeans and sunglasses, wrote a message on a piece of cardboard and, like many other homeless people in Toronto, wandered the city streets, peeping at passing drivers. On one side of his sign was written: “I have high hopes for Frank Sinatra.” On the other side was written: “Hello, I am a police officer. If you are reading this, you are about to be ticketed for using a cell phone.”
This method was also adopted by other police forces in Canada and the United States. Special operations to identify traffic violators took place in Ottawa, Florida and other regions of North America. However, some of these actions caused negative responses from local charities that support the homeless. The functionaries of these organizations believed that the police were abusing the negative reputation of a social stratum that was already in a bad way.
Japanese police came up with an unusual way to deal with offenders. In the 1980s, more and more people tried to use toll roads. Often, toll booths were pelted with raw eggs from moving cars. In response, the police began shooting paintballs with bright fluorescent paint at the cars of violators.
Since then, such marking of violators with bright paint using balls has begun to be used not only on the roads. Paintball balls have entered service in banks, stores, gas stations and even hotels. The police recommend throwing the balls under the feet of the attacker so that he is definitely covered with splashes.
The fight against drugs in the United States has been going on for decades, but the drug trade has not been curbed. However, the Franklin County Sheriff in Kentucky managed to partially solve the problem using a very unusual method. The police department posted a special form on its website, in which drug dealers were asked to eliminate their competitors by indicating their names, addresses and phone numbers. The first arrests began in just a few days.
In general, in American society, informing is seen as a civic virtue, in contrast to the Russian understanding of this phenomenon, where "snitching" is not held in high esteem. The American approach to informing, based on individualism and legal laws, promotes a higher public moral level, while in Russia public morality is weakened, despite individual disapproval of informing.