Movie-inspired AH Challenge

[Chengar Qordath]

After seeing the new Batman movie (it's quite good) I came up with a rather interesting challenge idea. With a PoD no earlier than 1945, come up with a way for most modern police departments to co-operate with or perhaps even be dependent upon anonymous professional vigilantes. Bonus points for incorporating the existance of super-villians, and for managing it with the least disruption to OTL.

[Mike Stearns]

Interesting idea. Police forces around the world do work with PIs and bounty hunters, so I suppose you could have a police force made up entirely of such individuals, although I'm not sure exactly how you'd bring such a result about.

[Wendell]

Well, this might be possible in a TL where the LXG actually exists

[Doctor What]

I'll give it a shot---
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Around the late 1930's-early 1940's--a group of civic minded individuals (inspired by all them new-fangled 'comic books') in various cities decide to take back their neighbourhoods from criminal gangs.

Cops are vaguely amused and/or slightly concerned by all this but the heroes are a hit with their respective local communities. Police departments discover quite quickly (after a few embarrassing incidents) that cops arresting 'real' super-heroes quickly turns the neighbourhood against them.

WW2 comes and goes and a whole new generation of heroes (and of course villains) take to the streets as well. These people are a bit more violent but they are also better trained and have a bit more fancy technology/gadgets/weapons in use (all those guys with years of military training, don't you know).

Police departments really don't know what to do with the situation--as long as the heroes aren't too psychotic and doing good deeds and all that stuff, they're fulfilling a valuable public service (citizen arrest laws are still on the books in OTL, btw--so 'costumed viglilantes capturing criminals in the course of a crime' are actually legal, theoretically). And having a bunch of cops trying to arrest Captain Pureheart for protecting little old ladies from muggers is really bad P.R., so the heroes fall into a legal gray zone where they are 'tolerated' by the local police departments as long as they behave themselves and don't screw up or don't piss off the local cops too much.

The 1960's come and go and now we got a second generation of more extreme viglilantes and villians. By the 1970's, some states have completely outlawed them, others are toying with 'registering' the heroes as 'professional bounty hunters' and a few have decided to take a 'let's see if things calm down first' approach.

When the 80's come and crime seems to be exploding in many major cities, the viglilantes come back into the picture. Most neighbourhoods welcome the heroes with open hands and the various police departments--grudgedly--accept their help (even the ones in states that have outlawed them).

By 2005, virtually every major U.S. city has at least one (and usually more than one) 'hero' working the streets. They have become a part of everyday life (sort of like how nobody even blinks anymore when someone says that they are a member of a neighbourhood watch). Many of these hardworking vigilante men and women have a huge fan base and websites. Some of the more friendlier ones even are available for the occasional speech or luncheon or book signing deals. A few of the heroes have even retired or moved onto other careers like the entertainment industry or legitimate law enforcement or public defender work and so forth.
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How's that?

[Chengar Qordath]

Nice way to answer the challenge Doc, though I wouldn't have minded a little more detail on it all. I was kind of leaning towards maybe some of these vigilantes starting up during prohibition, seeing as organized crime was big, and a lot of police departments were either too corrupt or too scared of reprisals to actually do anything to most of the big crime bosses. Certainly does seem like a good opportunity for vigilantism to thrive...

[cow defender]

yes but



who watches the watchmen?

[MerryPrankster]

Doctor_What,

Good idea. I was thinking of a TL where organized crime grows so powerful that the government cannot move against it (like in "Batman Begins" where the mobster Falcone practically owns Gotham). Perhaps a longer Prohibition?

Thus you have dissatisfied citizens, sometimes aided by frustrated elements of the police forces (like Commissioner Gordon), doing Batman-type stuff.

[Mike Stearns]

Originally Posted by cow defender

yes but



who watches the watchmen?

Perhaps there is some sort government program put in place early on that licenses the supers and keeps track of anyone performing hero work.

[Count Dearborn]

You want something like the bureau that Mr. Dickey worked for, in The Incredibles.

Don't forget people like Dr. Clark Savage, Jr.