Not to mention the fact that her family and friends say she was extremely traumatized by the ex-cop who pointed a gun at her head and made her perform oral sex.
1. It was an ex-cop who put her in this mentally disturbed situation
2. The cops then "allegedly" retaliated by setting up a sting operation on only her (when she reported the crime)
3. The cops were ineffective at apprehending her, leading her to make the non-premeditated decision to kill herself
The phrase "to kill herself" often implies suicide, but the story says it's unclear what happened -- she may have slipped on the balcony trying to escape. Whatever her mindset at the time, it doesn't absolve the police of their role in the circumstances leading to her death.
Indeed, it is very important to remember that there is always a human cost of making things illegal, and that the harm of the enforcement needs to be weighed against the harm of the problem you are trying to solve.
There's been a larger push for evidence-based medicine over the past decade or two. I'd love it if our criminal justice system was more evidence-based and focused solely on reducing crime/suffering/injustice and better rehabilitation. Many police departments fall into the trap of using number of arrests as their KPI, because that's easier to measure than outcomes.
Serial season 3 has had good discussion on minimum sentencing and judges who sentence based on whims, not on what's effective.
Not to mention the slight problem with entrapment (not the legal definition, but the human definition) and the heavy handed approach, this all besides the issues with making prostitution illegal.
I sympathize with the feeling that law enforcement, the judiciary, political appointees, and elected officials should be punished more severely for breaking the corresponding laws that they pledge to uphold and/or enforce. However, I am not sure how anyone would get that sort of law passed besides a referendum.
1. It was an ex-cop who put her in this mentally disturbed situation 2. The cops then "allegedly" retaliated by setting up a sting operation on only her (when she reported the crime) 3. The cops were ineffective at apprehending her, leading her to make the non-premeditated decision to kill herself