Cops and prisons are not all we have and have never been all we have.

Thinking you’re going to eradicate crime by any means—whether by aggressive policing or by “addressing root causes”—is as foolish as thinking you’re going to eradicate any social problem. There has always been crime and there will always be crime. We have to manage it as best we can by using all society’s tools, which include policing, to strike the best balance we can.