I ran across this article and couldn't believe it at first.
Basically, libraries around the country are turning to the police to help them retrieve property (books, dvds, etc.) that people have not returned despite several notices from the Library. Eventually, they are sent a summons to appear in court, and if they fail to do so they are arrested for that and fined. Libraries are apparently facing some budget problems, and everything that isn't returned can add up to significant losses for them (assuming they have to replace it). Apparently, some people really don't care (low energy) about returning their books to the library. The library considers this theft of public property and soon the police get involved
Reading this article reminded me of a Seinfeld episode where Jerry has a book that has been overdue since high school, and he gets confronted by Mr. Bookman the library detective:
This is a clear-cut case of the use of a punisher (fines, arrest) to reduce the frequency of undesirable behavior (not returning library materials). But, how effective is this? Does it have the general deterrent (affect others) capability that I assume the libraries think it has? It is probably an effective punisher for the individual (specific deterrent), but I would imagine only in the sense that they will probably never go back to the public library again. Basically, could be a better way to get people to return their library materials without using punishment? Should the libraries even get the police involved in the first place, or is it their right to track down uncompliant borrowers?
I remember reading a news story a few years back about the library in my town filing charges against a woman for an overdue library book. It seems very extreme to the outsider but after talking to a friend of mine (who used to be a librarian there), she told me that the chief of police is the head librarian's next door neighbor so it is very easy for her to discuss delinquent clients with him (apparently, this librarian has had the chief of police go and retrieve books from numerous delinquent clients). With the chief of police being so accessible to the head librarian, it takes relatively low motivation to file a report (that being that she doesn't have to put in a whole lot of extra effort to find the time to go down to the station and file a report).