I will be the first to say that we live in a police state. No one knows how many laws there are, the police are out of control as a group and what the judiciary does is unconscionable. Far too many of our citizens are locked up, many for things that shouldn’t even be a crime. The prison industrial complex is an abomination.
Having said that, the number of police officers shot in the line of duty is up 43% over 2021, a record year. Packs of savages are roaming streets committing all kinds of violent crimes. Carjackings are up 60%. Many of these crimes are committed by criminals released for other crimes.
Existing laws need to be enforced. If “you” don’t like them, work to repeal them.
People who are mentally ill should be in treatment facilities, not in prisons. If the involuntary commitment means the safety of people and the individual then that is where they need to be.
I didn’t twist anything, it was a question. And it seems from the rest of your post that you do indeed want more people imprisoned and involuntarily committed. I agree that would help prevent crime, but it wouldn’t do much to rehabilitate the prison industrial complex.
Re: where it’s been, where it is, where it’s going: What do people attribute the overall decline in violent crime over the last 30 years? I know I’ve wondered about the causal factors. Seems important.
It probably makes sense to look at the question in a longer term context. We might also want to adjust for the fact that we often misperceive the amount crime in the aggregate.
Why would early releases contribute to crime? Are you saying I’d they are released 1-5 years later they suddenly wouldn’t commit crimes when they got out?
Same question with theft limits. Clearly there needs to be thresholds. I don’t want to pay 35k a year to house a criminal who stole an $750 iPhone.
About perception of crime, I was recently watching an episode of the game show Card Sharks from the 70’s. One of the questions was to guess what percentage of New York City residents said in a recent survey that they had been mugged. One of the contestants answered 34% and another answered 50%. The correct answer was 13%.
One of the ramifications of the internet is that we hear about everything from everywhere now. I’ve lived in my neighborhood for over 30 years and have only ever had a Christmas light stolen in that entire time. If I were to go off of the incidents reported in my Facebook and Nextdoor city groups you’d think I lived in a dystopian hellscape.
