Why War On Crime Is Not A Good Idea

Last week, Madam President announced the government's intent to start a war on crime, specifically organized crime. Just as milking a bull will not get you any milk, the government's effort to 'fight' the organized crime by spending more of public resources will not get any results either. And here are the reasons why.

First, the government's approach to fight crime primarily relies on hunting bad guys. For example, a well-known criminal by the name of Kolbaev Kamchy has become a new poster boy. Will catching Kolbaev reduce activities of the criminal enterprise? As you all know, it will do no such thing. Should we let criminals like him roam freely in the country? Of course, the answer is no. The real issue is will this policy that will require more of the very limited public funds get the promised results. The implicit assumption in the government's plan is if you catch a bad guy, there will be a reduction in criminal activities. Or, in technical terms the elasticity of supply of criminal activities with respect to its one particular input is extremely high. Evidence at home and abroad suggests that there is a high degree of substitution. Put it differently, for every Kamchy there are 100s of other talented criminals waiting to replace him.

Second, since corruption is deeply rooted in our country, there is a good reason to believe that some of the key law enforcement agents are in bed with the criminal organization bosses. Even if the policy is implemented with good intentions, the actual consequences are more likely to serve some criminals to eliminate their competition by using public funds.

Third, there is an extensive evidence suggesting that regional crime bosses have a strong local support. Going after crime bosses will further destabilize the fragile political and social equilibrium that we have finally achieved.

In short, this policy is bad because it does not address the underlying problem but rather attempts to cure a particular symptom. Furthermore, the treatment generates more harmful side effects.