The *Cost* of Crime

Crime is typically punished in our society in one of two ways. For small crimes there is typically a fine, probation on the outside. As the severity of the crime escalates, prison sentences are introduced and escalated. There is occasional overlap between the two by typically they are well separated.

The cost of this is having an active police force, a detective squad, district attorneys, correction officers and the necessary related infrastructure: police stations, court houses and prisons. This is all very expensive and should be at least partially paid by the persecutors instead of the victims (read: tax payers).

For this reason alone, we should levy massive fines against the guilty.

But those reasons are not alone. The cost of crime is inexorable much greater. Any bodily harm caused (which I dare say is frequently, and one of the major reasons we have laws) has a large cost on the healthcare system. Surgery is expensive, care is expensive, medication is expensive and the government (erm, victims) pay for all of it. Half way homes are expensive, parole officers are expensive, security systems are expensive.

Lets stop charging the victims for the cost of crime committed against them.