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liberal_hack t1_j6e8l49 wrote

Reply to comment by bitpushr in Crowds march through downtown Boston to protest police killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis by jojenns

If you had really heavy enforcement of laws you’d probably decrease the crime rate, the question is whether that’s appropriate in a liberal democracy.

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asaharyev t1_j6ebhpn wrote

That was the stated purpose of "broken windows policing," which played a big role in increasing our prison population to what it is today. Stricter enforcement does not lead to a reduction in crimes being committed, and can often have the opposite effect. This is because it reinforces structures of inequality and exacerbates symptoms of poverty.

What has reduced crime is building a stronger social safety net so those who find themselves in desperate situations can get support from the state instead of other illegal alternatives.

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liberal_hack t1_j6f06ki wrote

I mean harsher sentencing too. If you arrest someone for a minor crime and destroy their life, and then shortly let them out yeah you're going to have more problems.

I'm just saying if you went really draconian and locked up long-term anyone that commits a serious crime you would probably have lower crime rates, at the cost of liberty

>What has reduced crime is building a stronger social safety net so those who find themselves in desperate situations can get support from the state instead of other illegal alternatives

This is true but it doesn't address the people that commit crime for reasons other than addressing their own survival needs, which is most crime.

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asaharyev t1_j6f0zcn wrote

Harsher sentences do not reduce crime. This has been shown in multiple studies, and is easily searchable. Here is just one of many studies showing this.

Stricter policing does not reduce crime, and often makes it worse.

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liberal_hack t1_j6f8szk wrote

What is the mechanism for locking up a criminal for life increasing crime rates?

A place like Singapore with really draconian sentencing and enforcement has pretty low crime rates.

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asaharyev t1_j6fl1hy wrote

The US has an incarceration rate 3x that of Singapore. We're already more draconian than your example.

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liberal_hack t1_j6fvwq5 wrote

We incarcerate people and then let them back out without reintegrating them well. Singapore just executes a lot of people. Singapore is definitely a more draconian legal system.

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