Fiscal Sinks Produce Chronic Under-Policing

Places with high crime and poverty need more policing but raise less revenue, creating a built‑in under‑policing loop. As meritocracy siphons local talent upward, these areas lose political voice, worsening the mismatch between needs and policy. The result is persistent disorder that national elites—living in high‑functioning milieus—systematically misread. — It reframes crime policy failures as a fiscal‑governance design problem that skews representation and enforcement where it’s needed most.