So I wouldn't have guessed this.. Compared to most countries, the US has far fewer police per capita. More prisoners (and, perforce, correction officers), but a lot fewer police. Are the two connected? Do fewer police on the street make for more less deterrence, fewer arrests — but, therefore, harsher punishment when people do get caught?
I wonder as well if part of this is a difference in how prison, vs police, is paid for. The local police are paid for in city and county taxes; state and federal investigators are usually for larger-scale cases, not street crime. Prison, on the other hand, are usually paid for on the state and federal level. If those were aligned, I have to wonder if both the statistics and the reality would be different.
Police versus Prisons – Marginal REVOLUTION
Here’s a remarkable graph from the Council of Economic Advisers report on incarceration and the criminal justice system. The graph shows that the United States employs many more prison guards per-capita than does the rest of the world. Given our prison population that isn’t surprising. What is surprising is that on a per-capita basis we employ 35% …
