[bambax]

> the country is safer than it ever has been

This is only true if you exclude from "the country" all the prisons where people are routinely raped and stabbed.

Also, even if it were true, the important question is: what caused it, and could that result be achieved with other means? How do other safe countries address the problem?

[jongraehl]

Most of the prison stabbings are included in violent crimes stats. I guess some rapes may not be, though. Rape in prisons is surpassing non-prison rape (which is almost nonexistent) but it's not routine either - 10x higher rate per person-year is still a pretty low rate (needless to say: we the public should be willing to pay a pretty high price to stop a single violent rape - say, $50k)