but i fuckin' told you so...

It is one of the least-told stories in American crime-fighting. New
York, the safest big city in the nation, achieved its now-legendary
70-percent drop in homicides even as it locked up fewer and fewer of
its citizens during the past decade. The number of prisoners in the
city has dropped from 21,449 in 1993 to 14,129 this past week. That
runs counter to the national trend, in which prison admissions have
jumped 72 percent during that time.



"I can't tell you exactly why violent crime in New York declined by
twice the national rate," he said. "But I can tell you this: It wasn't
because we locked up more people."

Despite Fewer Lockups, NYC Has Seen Big Drop in Crime - washingtonpost.com



I can tell you why, and i'll be right again. it's because prison causes crime. 18 yr olds nailed on posession charges go to prison and turn into 23 yr old assault and battery charges which turn into 44 yr old murder charges. it's simple, prison, as it is run right now, causes recidivism, so logically, locking up fewer people will mean that fewer people are released from prison more fucked up than when they went in, and thus it means fewer people re-offending.



mad props to new york...