> Surely I have some roses colored glasses from my youth but it felt like growing up and in my 20s you would see cops writing tickets.

I do think public sentiment would swing hard against this type of widespread tracking if we could see laws enforced more regularly.

I live in a low crime city, but even I’m growing frustrated with the flagrant violation of basic laws. We take the kids to nearby park where it’s becoming common for maybe 1 in 100 cars to speed 50-60mph down the adjoining road (twice the speed limit). 1 in 100 doesn’t sound like a lot but it means i see it several times during a single visit. They don’t slow down or stop at the crosswalks.

Only 10 years ago, I remember speed patrols on this road once a week. They would nab anyone flagrantly blowing crosswalks or going significantly over the speed limit. It had a huge effect and you rarely saw violations.

Now: Nothing. I was talking to my wife and we couldn’t remember the last time there was an officer doing speed checks on that road, despite the constant problems and being adjacent to the biggest park around.

The basic laws and regulations just don’t seem to matter any more. Even the trails we like to hike where dogs are only allowed on-leash is full of off-leash dogs. There was a time when you risked getting random a ticket if you were caught with an off-leash dog, but now it’s not a possibility anyone even thinks about. The spot checks and ticket writing previously kept everyone honest, but now it’s rare to see a dog on leash. My friend’s dog (on leash) was attacked by someone’s off leash dog recently and they barely wrestled it away. A visiting friend of mine was bitten by an off leash dog while walking, though it was a small dog she could shake off. It’s still all so bizarre to me that any enforcement of the rules seemingly disappeared overnight.

I know it’s nothing relative to the people living in areas where shoplifting is rampant or you have to fear violent crime, but I think the root cause is similar: A complete lack of visible enforcement emboldens people to ignore them. When the problem becomes widespread, public opinion about invasive enforcement and monitoring becomes more welcoming.