A Waste Of Police Time And Resources

Political philosophers, including in Thomas Hobbes' 1651 book Leviathan, have long argued that the state (i.e., the government) should have a monopoly on the legal use of force within its territory. And although at odds with thousands of years of human history, this theory has been adopted by all modern states. Thus the hostility of modern states against the private ownership of arms or private self-defense, as well as the rise of the police state.

    This was brought to mind as I read the following article from the Daily Mail: "Vigilante Tube passengers face arrest over 'assault' of naked man on the Tube after they took law into their hands when he dropped his trousers on packed carriage." The incident arose after a black man (most likely an immigrant) decided to drop his trousers and expose himself while riding a subway train. The article describes the incident as follows:

    The Daily Mail revealed how he began yelling after the eastbound train travelled between Upton Park and East Ham.

    He then dropped his trousers and put his belt around his neck. His bottom and genitals were on show, sparking anger and revulsion around him on the train, which was busy with children who are on their summer holidays.

    A passenger stood up and quickly confronted him, gesticulating angrily. He politely and firmly told him: 'You need to get off the train.' But the man began repeatedly yelling back: 'F*** off.'

    The commuter said in response: 'What do you mean "f*** off"? You need to get off the f***ing train. Now. There are kids on here.'

    Footage of the incident showed up to four men kicking and punching the naked man, who was hitting them with his belt. The video then cut to him being pinned to the floor of the carriage. 

    The man was then unceremoniously carried on to the Tube platform at East Ham and dumped to the floor. He was then pinned down as the commuters tried to alert staff.

    It appears an off duty police officer was on the train and performed an arrest and he was taken to hospital. 

Thus, it is established that the flasher needed to be detained and arrested.

    The problem is that the overpowering and detention of the man was originally by private citizens and not agents of the state. From the article:

    But detectives are probing whether the vigilantes committed any criminal offences in the confrontation after he refused to pull up his pants.

    BTP has appealed for witnesses to the incident but there have been no arrests over the brawl.

    'The man had been assaulted by a number of other passengers and was initially arrested by an off duty officer, before being detained under the mental health act and taken to hospital,' the BTP statement said.

    'An investigation into the incident is ongoing.' 

The issue is not that the vigilantes did anything morally wrong, but that they intruded into the state's monopoly on the use of violence and, by extension, its prerogative to decide whether any particular citizen should be protected from a crime.