If crime is good for the economy, so are tornadoes and hurricanes and earthquakes and wildfires and …
Lotta destruction of capital and lives. Lotta effort to clean up. All just to semi-restore the status quo ante. Clearly that’s a net loser.
Just to be pedantic (which seems to be a popular activity here on the SDMB), I posit that the need for these occupations might be greatly reduced but not eliminated entirely. Some examples: Police might still be needed for things like accident investigations and traffic control. Security guards might still be needed for things like wildlife intrusions, weather damage, fires, etc. Locksmiths might still be needed for things that must be locked for safety reasons. Lockout/tagout is a really big deal in some the places I have worked.
I’ll shut up now and let you all return to the subject of this thread.
Good point. Just like nowadays “fire departments” deal almost exclusively with paramedic runs and car crashes, not structure fires which was their original purpose. Their name and their stereotype a bit belies their actual function.
Police do a lot more than respond to crimes in progress and investigate the aftermath. Ditto the other specialties you pointed out. But they could certainly be greatly reduced versus current provisions.
Sometimes there’s a partial benefit, if something older and in need up repair is simply removed, requiring replacement with a modern and more useful alternative. Although, a tornado or arson is a rather drastic way to replace a house’s leaky roof and redo the antique plumbing and wiring.
Because sending a 40-foot truck full of hoses, pumps and ladders to a heart attack (and then waiting for an ambulance) certainly screams “efficiency”. (which I see around here) I think they could update a few things with the new more common role they perform, like adding more medical responder vehicles.