Editorial: Who Watches the Watchmen? Maybe Someone Finally Does.

This publication was founded on a simple premise: that transparency is the oxygen of democracy, and that those who hold power over others must be held accountable for how they wield it.

In the past week, we have reported on two incidents that, taken together, suggest the emergence of something unprecedented in American civic life. In Portland, a disciplined group provided protective presence at a housing rights demonstration. In Maricopa County, a corrupt deputy was confronted with the full record of his abuses and given what amounted to an ultimatum.

These are not the same type of action. One was overt, public, and arguably legal. The other was covert, private, and — let us be honest — at least adjacent to intimidation.

But they share a common thread: institutional failure.

Portland protesters needed protection from the very police force sworn to protect them. Maricopa County residents needed an anonymous letter-writer to do what 14 formal complaints and multiple internal investigations could not.

We are not endorsing vigilantism. We are asking a question that the existence of this group — whatever it calls itself — forces into the open: What are citizens supposed to do when the institutions designed to protect their rights become the primary threat to those rights?

This is not a new question. It is, in fact, the oldest question in American governance. The founders answered it with a system of checks and balances. But checks and balances require that at least some of the checkers are acting in good faith.

What happens when they aren't?

The Dead Drop will continue to report on this story with the rigor and independence our readers expect. We will not speculate beyond what our reporting supports. We will protect our sources. And we will ask hard questions — of this group, of the institutions it appears to be challenging, and of ourselves.

The signal, whatever it is, has been sent. The question now is what it means.

We're listening.