9 Mar 12

A friend and metro police chief reminds us of this:

“There is another chart that matches well with current declining crime rates, and that is the one depicting increasing incarceration rates!

While Liberals whine incessantly about the large number of their voters we have behind bars (as the productive among us simultaneously complain about the cost), over-represented among these internees are habitual-offenders, the ‘frequent-fliers’ of our criminal-justice system. Every day this group is ‘grounded’ in our jails and prisons, is one more day they are not out and actively looking for opportunities to victimize the rest of us!

Certainly, we also have some number of ‘one-and-done’ fools, who commit a minor crime, but can probably be released with minimal further risk to society. And, of course, there are also a few innocent people, who were swept-up by seedy interrogations, erring eye-witnesses, incompetent representation, unscrupulous testimony from jail-house snitches, et al.

Unfortunately, few among us can distinguish habitual offenders from one-and-done types, having only the first offense (at which they got caught) to go on. Seems better for a number of one-and-done types to pay a stiff penalty for their errors, than for us to casually release frequent-fliers back into our world for another go.

Many complain about the large number of ‘non-violent offenders” locked away. Remember Al Capone? He was a “non-violent” tax offender!

We must insure all those accused have adequate/competent representation, so that truly innocent people don’t end up incarcerated. Some gun-owners, police officers, and self-defending heroes are included in this category.

That said, there is no doubt in my mind that locking up real criminals for long periods continues to keep violent crime in check.”

Comment: I don’t like the high cost of incarceration any more than anyone else, but, in the final analysis, it is money well spent! We have to balance the cost of incarceration against the cost of wanton mayhem these currently-restrained criminals will predictably be generating when they are out and walking among us.

“‘Civilization’” is a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness.”

Werner Herzog

/John