THE COSTS OF CRIME 2

According to the New York Times, "Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, and Oregon devote as much or more to corrections as they do to higher education." But the relevant comparison would be between the cost of keeping a criminal behind bars and the cost of letting him loose in society:

* In Britain, the total cost of the prison system per year was found to be £1.9 billion (about U.S. $3.8 billion).

* The financial cost alone of the crimes committed per year by criminals was estimated at £60 billion (about U.S. $121 billion).

The big difference between the two kinds of costs is not just in their amounts - the far higher costs of letting criminals loose is paid by the general public in both money and in being subjected to violence.

The net result is that both politicians and ideologues of the left are forever pushing "alternatives to incarceration" - all the while putting law abiding citizens at increased risk.

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