Tim Scott: “We can do what works to reduce crime, or we can do what sounds good, makes maybe good politics but does not do anything…”

“We can do what works to reduce crime, or we can do what sounds good, makes maybe good politics but does not do anything about the crime rate. Unfortunately, we cannot do both. We know what works. We have seen studies of Head Start, recreation, boys and girls clubs, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, a number of programs that work to reduce crime. These have been proven. They are cost effective. They keep kids out of trouble. They do not get in trouble in the first place, and, of course, that strategy has the added advantage that people do not have to be brutalized because there are no victims when we have prevented the crimes. People have suggested that we are not tough or that we are choosing between punishment or prevention. They ignore the fact that in some communities we already have more of our young people in jail today than in college. Our incarceration rate in America is the largest in any country on Earth. The average internationally of people being locked up is about 100 people per 100,000 population. Canada about 117, Mexico 97, Japan less than 50 per 100,000, the United States is already above 500, almost 600 people per 100,000. I have jurisdictions in my Congressional District that lock up about 1,500 people per 100,000.”