Under Draco’s laws(where we derive Draconian) in ancient Athens, every crime was punishable by death. Caught idling, Sayun? Unaangalia D maina with a straight face, River Yala ?
I have often expressed complicity as the biggest threat to order in this gulag state. Specifically, killer-squad rogue agents or thugs masquerading as security agents, operating with utmost impunity because no one will come forward as witnesses. The same complicity also applies to the civilian population.
People are discouraged from being informers on their fellow neighbors if they know the punishment will be death. Yes, the person committed a petty chicken thieving crime, but is it appropriate to send them to the gallows ? Most of these local criminals are people who are emotionally attached to their neighbors, some are even known since they were toddlers.
When the security chiefs raise the alarm on violent crime being at 40%, it’s not just a linear correlation between crime and hard economic times, there’s a lot more to do with trust. The last one year has changed the face of law enforcement forever. As a victim of a violent crime you’re caught between anger with the criminal versus contempt for the police.
I’d like to get preachy about building trust, but just yesterday, a man died in police custody when he ‘ran into a wall at a lightning speed’. He only got the coverage because he’s famous, what about all the John Does falling through the cracks ?