Incarceration A Feature, Not a Flaw

David Brooks is only "conservative" compared to other New York Times columnists, most of whom would be considered left wing in Scandinavia. In spite of which he stumbles on the truth occasionally, and has done so today.

Incarceration reduces crime. Experts disagree on how much, but most studies show a significant effect. That's partly because most of the people who do serious crime are career criminals. Among inmates released from state prison in 2005, the average number of previous convictions was five and the average number of previous arrests was greater than 10.

Less aggressive policing means more crime.

As in life generally, every policy has the vices of its virtues. Aggressive policing cuts crime but increases brutality. There is no escape from trade-offs and tragic situations.

Ideally people who insist on committing crimes should be grouped together so that their victims are not law-abiding folks but are other career criminals; we call this policy "incarceration." It is not excessive but it is expensive.