Bombadil
Well-Known Member
I'm reading a book called Arrest Proof Yourself. It's written by a lawyer who is ex-cop/FBI. Here's an excerpt:
Guess what? The system needs you. It’s huge. It’s no small chore keeping
the jails filled; government employees at work; and those tax dollars, fines,
and court costs rolling in. The problem nowadays is that, in many cities,
serious crime is way down. The cops are great at arresting the really bad
guys, and state legislatures have passed stiff sentencing guidelines that put
felons away for decades. What you’ll never see, however, is a headline like
this: “Crime Down—Judges Laid Off, Cops Furloughed, Jails to Close.”
So what to do? If murderers, armed robbers, rapists, and drug dealers
are in short supply, the system fills itself with graffiti writers, jaywalkers,
petty drug users, drivers with suspended licenses, and clueless types who
mouth off to cops. The criminal justice system needs inmates to survive.
This bureaucratic imperative to make ever more arrests is never absent
from the decisions of cops and judges, and it’s never discussed.
It's some really interesting stuff.
Guess what? The system needs you. It’s huge. It’s no small chore keeping
the jails filled; government employees at work; and those tax dollars, fines,
and court costs rolling in. The problem nowadays is that, in many cities,
serious crime is way down. The cops are great at arresting the really bad
guys, and state legislatures have passed stiff sentencing guidelines that put
felons away for decades. What you’ll never see, however, is a headline like
this: “Crime Down—Judges Laid Off, Cops Furloughed, Jails to Close.”
So what to do? If murderers, armed robbers, rapists, and drug dealers
are in short supply, the system fills itself with graffiti writers, jaywalkers,
petty drug users, drivers with suspended licenses, and clueless types who
mouth off to cops. The criminal justice system needs inmates to survive.
This bureaucratic imperative to make ever more arrests is never absent
from the decisions of cops and judges, and it’s never discussed.
It's some really interesting stuff.
In
