To respond to your other comment, homicide rates were falling starting around 1990, and the prison population exploded after that. Something else must be going one here. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons[1] as of last month 45.3% of the total US prison population is there for non-violent drug offenses. Only 3.1% is for homicide, assault, or kidnapping. In the late 80s and early 90s lots of states and the federal government instituted really draconian sentencing laws.
So yeah, violent crime is WAY down from 1990, drug arrests have been soaring since.
But you agree that it needs an explanation, right? You gloat about a dramatic decrease in crime, yet the number of inmates increased tenfold over that time period.
See my other reply[1]. I'm not gloating, simply conveying facts about numbers. The increase in incarceration is mostly due to tougher sentences for non-violent crime.
Then why did Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan see the same drops in crime? They all lock up a minuscule fraction of their populations by comparison and had larger or similar drops in crime.
The timing is also wrong, the drop in crime started before incarceration ramped up.
Also as I mentioned the plurality of incarceration is for nonviolent crime, a lot of which is simple drug possession.
So yeah, violent crime is WAY down from 1990, drug arrests have been soaring since.
[1]https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offen...