The Shadow Police of Everett
A labor newspaper questions why a private corporation’s security, rather than city police, is patrolling public infrastructure during a machinist strike.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The account of the machinists' trouble at the Snohomish River bridge was pretty thoroughly aired in police court and brought out a condition of things that demands investigation. If a private corporation pays an officer, but not the city, does he have any right to go upon the bridge, a public highway, and arrest a man? Particularly under the circumstances when he had not been called to make an arrest or even to act in any manner in his capacity as an officer? The whole transaction looks bad. If we must have an army of special police to keep a few striking machinists from starting a riot, at least let them be Everett taxpayers instead of strangers sent to Everett to serve somebody.
“If we must have an army of special police to keep a few striking machinists from starting a riot, at least let them be Everett taxpayers instead of strangers sent to Everett to serve somebody.”
The tension between private security firms and public oversight remains a flashpoint in labor conflicts, echoing modern concerns about the deputization of private corporate interests in public spaces.
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