Policing is Too Important to be Left to the Government: Economist Ed Stringham

"Because police are so important, I think that we should abandon the idea that government needs to provide it." says economics professor Edward Stringham. "Wherever we see government it's not helpful, it's bureaucratic, it's not serving its customers and I would say that especially applies in the area of police."

Stringham is the L.V. Hackley Endowed Professor for the Study of Capitalism and Free Enterprise at Fayetteville State University and co-author if the 2006 Reason Foundation study "No Booze? You May Lose: Why Drinkers Earn More Money Than Nondrinkers."

At FreedomFest 2011, Reason's Matt Welch sat down with Stringham to talk about privatizing security, real world examples in the United States and why this won't lead to police protection only for the rich.

Held each July in Las Vegas, FreedomFest is attended by around 2,000 libertarians and advocates of limited government. Reason.tv spoke with over two dozen speakers and attendees and will be releasing interviews over the coming weeks.?Check out our other interviews from FreedomFest here.

About 5:30 minutes. Shot by Zach Weissmueller and Jim Epstein and edited by Meredith Bragg.