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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 13, 2023

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Yes, but I think you're flipping the causality. Countries with low crime rates have relaxed police enforcement because they can. Low crime rates cause low police brutality, not the other way around.

For example, the U.S. had a temporary reduction in crime following mass incarceration in the 1990s. The prison population peaked in 2008, and has now fallen by large amounts per capita. This fall is accelerating now, particularly in places like Seattle, Portland, or Los Angeles where police and prosecutors have abdicated much of their authority. It's no surprise that murder rates bottomed shortly after the prison maximum and are now increasing rapidly. And this is despite mitigating factors such as better emergency care and a much higher average age. I haven't done the math, but it's possible that adjusted for median age, the U.S. murder rate is at all-time highs.

By the way, I don't think police brutality is a good solution for a country like the US, but it works for Ethiopia because they lack the state capacity to investigate and punish crimes. In those situations it is better than the alternative which is anarchy.

Edit: One more thing. Your L.A. murder numbers are way out of date. Los Angeles had 382 murders in 2022. While 2022 population numbers are not out yet, this puts the murder rate near 10 per 100,000 which would be an increase of 56% since 2018. Ugh.