Just what we need: vigilantes.

Anyone who's been on Twitter (at least the lean left/act blue version) knows that, since the deadly January 6th riots at the Capitol, there've been a lot of citizen sleuths trying to identify insurrectionists. This has been encouraged by the FBI. And it's working. Folks have turned in family members, colleagues, acquaintances, neighbors. Mostly this is for the good. Someone who was spearing a cop with a flagpole (carrying a TRUMP flag, of course), or defecating in the halls of Congress, should be found, arrested, and tried. 

(I'm not talking about the quasi-peaceful knuckleheads who just got carried along and mostly walked around gawking once they got inside. Morons, idiots, ignoramuses of the highest (lowest?) order. Let them go. But keep an eye on them. If they came that far, they're probably not that many steps away from trying to assassinate the governor of Michigan or hang Mike Pence on a public gallows. But the violent perpetrators of assault and destruction: F em! Let them use the Trump made me do it, latter-day Twinkie defense all they want. They all need to do time. And have an eye kept on them.)

See something, say something. It's all well and good.

But there's a thin line between righteous hits and vigilantism. And mistakes can be made. 

Twitter "doing its thing" has managed to find some malefactors. But they've also managed to dox plenty of innocent people. Not. Good.

And then there are the apps that go on beyond Twitter to hunt down bad guys. 

One such app, Citizen (formerly known as Vigilante)

...sent a notification to users in the Los Angeles area with a photograph of a man the app said was a suspect in starting the Palisades Fire on Sunday. It offered $30,000 in reward money for anyone who provided information that led to his arrest. The man was captured by police Sunday evening, but he was released after the authorities determined that there was no conclusive evidence that he was involved. 

...Following the incident, Citizen said in a statement that the company was “actively working to improve our internal processes to ensure this does not occur again” and that the incident “was a mistake we are taking very seriously.” (Source: Gizmodo)

Look, I don't blame people who live in multi-million dollar homes in a fire-ravaged area for being on the lookout for bad guys. But it's way too easy for this to get out of hand. And, in this case, it's way too easy to pin the blame on someone who's homeless and, therefore, especially vulnerable. Yes, some of the California fires have been traced to homeless encampments or homeless individuals. But not all, by any means. 

Citizen has plans to go way beyond just their vigilante app. 

Now, we’re learning the same company is apparently planning to offer its own private security forces to users, according to a new report from Motherboard. (Source: The Verge)

The world is a scary place. Always has been. But thanks to social media/the Internet's vast capacity to spread misinformation and paranoia; to the growing economic inequality that plagues our society - a society that encourages rampant overconsumption and the glorification of celebrity "haves"; and to our country's vast capacity to allow a crazy level of gun ownership, it's getting scarier. Factor in our vaunted reliance on self-reliance. Not to mention the growing awareness that there are a lot of untrained, unfit, unhinged law enforcement officers gunning around out there...

The perfect recipe for the privatization of protection. 

It's already out there in gated communities. Now, if Citizen goes through with its plans, it will be available to the ungated as well.

And just how do citizens need to respond to these privatized cops? 

Do we have to follow the barked orders of some armed, steroid-fueled rando Rambo cop wannabe in black military gear who jumps out of an official looking vehicle? (Pronounced vee-HICK-le.) Can any old jackbooted moron order me to cease and desist whatever I'm doing? Do I have to comply?

Bad enough we have to worry about real cops out there. And, no, I don't believe that ACAB. (All Cops Are Bad) But plenty of them are.  And even the non-bad ones live in the same world we do. Which means they're aware that anyone they come across for any reason may well be armed and dangerous. Sure, they all need better training, and the violent racist/sexist ones need to be weeded out, but is it any wonder that they're trigger happy? That they see guns everywhere, even if that gun is a smartphone or a toy?

I for one am not looking forward to more people taking the law into their own hands. Bad enough we've witnessed the militarization of our police forces. I really don't want to see the privatization of it.