Why was the question https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/61740/overlap-between-public-and-private-entity deleted by @Cesar M please? It seems to me to be on topic for the Law stack. It seems to contain some misunderstandings, but correcting misunderstandings is an important part of what SE is for. I don't see anything obviously objectionable about the question, nor do I see that it violates any policy that I am aware of.
As not everyone can see deleted posts, the question read:
Let's say a US county like Stafford, VA abolished its police. No legal change it simply doesn't allocate funds or isnt able to support it. Assume, for whatever reason the county administrator cant do anything about this but decides to pay, out of pocket for a new police force. Ie, the salary is paid directly out of his personal accounts. At what point does this new police force become the government?
Is there any actual, legal distinction between government and private entities or is it just something that exists abstractly? Because say the administrator declares that his rentacops are the "real police" and enforce state law- at what point do the rentacops become "real police"? Is there any official process written down anywhere? Even if the local gov passes a one sentence ordinance saying "Bob's police are real" is that all?
