Instead of comparing prison and police levels per capita across countries, benchmark them against serious crime—e.g., prisoners or officers per homicide. On this metric, the U.S. looks typical in prisoners and unusually low in police, given its higher homicide rate.
— This reframing challenges claims that America’s incarceration is uniquely excessive and redirects policy focus toward serious crime levels and policing capacity.
2025.10.07
86% relevant
The article explicitly cites Lewis & Usmani (2022) and advocates comparing countries by prisoners per homicide rather than per‑capita incarceration, directly mirroring the idea’s framing for more meaningful cross‑national comparisons.
Isegoria
2025.09.20
100% relevant
The article concludes that 'if we benchmark the prisoner numbers on a per-homicide basis…the U.S. has a typical number of prisoners and an exceptionally low number of police.'
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