How to boost crime: “getting away with it.” By J.T. Alexander.

There was a massive DOJ study done decades ago that among people in Federal custody, the single trait career criminals had most in common was that they had all gotten caught as a teenager and the case resolved in a way that left them feeling like they ‘got away with it.’

More in common than race, than marital status of parents, than bullying, than presence of a father. It was theissue.

Commenters:

In New York, it’s a misdemeanor to walk into a grocery store and steal $950 worth of inch-thick ribeye steaks. The store won’t even call the cops because the cops won’t come for that crime. It’s not just a “feeling.” They are IN FACT getting away with crime in the United States. …

Rudy Guiliani cleaned up New York City by enforcing even minor laws that had been ignored for years. Left-wing politicians are doing just the opposite across the country now, and predictably crime is flourishing where it’s treated well. …

The conventional wisdom is that certainty of punishment is more important than severity for deterrence of crime.