Brains in chains

In the Sydney Morning Herald, this headline:

Why there are more prisoners
but fewer crimes being committed

The report begins (emphasis added):

The number of people in NSW prisons hit record levels last year despite more than a decade of crime declines, with women and Indigenous people locked up at a faster rate than others.

Harsher sentences, more police powers, changes to bail laws and parole conditions plus improved technology and security have put more people in jail as more crimes are solved.

Senior lecturer at the Sydney Institute of Criminology (University of Sydney) Dr Garner Clancey said people coming through the courts are being imprisoned more frequently and serving longer sentences.

“Talking tough constantly, increasing the number of offences for which you can be charged, increasing the penalties if you are caught and prosecuted and a relentless policing of bail makes the overall justice system more punitive,” Dr Clancey said. “The debate is, is that necessary, particularly at a time we’ve had declining crime.”

Locking up more malefactors means there are fewer on the streets to commit crimes. It takes years of advanced education for something so obvious to be rendered obscure.