Quote Originally Posted by Ken White View Post
I'd add that all the great data provided by jmm99 essentially corroborates it with the amplifier that the 'cultural revolution' of the 1960s skewed the picture due to a foolish desire then and since to let a lot of perpetrators walk and be rehabilitated instead of tossing 'em in the slammer. Social engineering; they meant well but actually encouraged crime as it became low or no cost...

As you point out -- with local variations; then and now. As any street Cop can tell you, even minor swings in the economic cycle have their effect, slight though it may be.

Note that jmm99's offerings show an anomaly -- one article says that crime rates were low during the Depression, another shows the incarceration rate during that period climbed significantly. That is and indication of the beginnings of crime reporting and data gathering getting off to a rocky start and a no-nonsense attitude toward any potential lawbreaker. Different time.
There was also shorter sentences and less post incarceration stigma and still a lower percentage of the population incarcerated then now. I am going to have to agree to disagree with you on this one Ken
Reed