With the combination of no-bail arrests* and COVID restrictions on booking suspects into jail, isn’t it an obvious consequence that some

people will commit crimes with an air of impunity?

As I am writing this, I’m listening to a Los Angeles news radio station (about 120 miles north of me) that is broadcasting yet another high-speed pursuit of a stolen vehicle. I just tuned in, but according to the commentator, it’s been going on for at least 30 minutes. The police have just broken off the chase in the interest of public safety, and helicopters are instead taking up tracking the suspect vehicle. Also according to the commentator, the fact that it’s a property crime and no injury or death has as yet been ascertained, if apprehended, the suspect will most likely be checked for outstanding wants or warrants. If none are found, he or she will be cited, given a notice to appear in court, and then will be released from custody, all of this taking place within a few hours of been being arrested.

  This is also true if the person is on parole or probation for previous offenses and/or convictions, because without an actual want or warrant, new laws and regulations initiated in 2019 create something called “flash incarceration”, meaning that no previous convictions can be considered in a decision as to whether or not a person can or has to remain in custody. Additionally, a large number of felony crimes, felony charges, and felony convictions have been redefined as misdemeanors, so their severity is lessened on a person’s rap sheet. Lastly, due to COVID, the rush to empty jails, detention facilities and prisons has reached a fever pitch, and refilling them with people is practically forbidden now. Those same concerns about COVID exposure pushes court dates at least several months out, of not all the way to one year.  New arrests that take place during that time are not compiled on a person’s record, they are all considered separate and completely unrelated incidents.

  I’m just trying to figure out that for people who already have or show a propensity to break laws, where is the balance between incentives to remain law-abiding and the incentives to commit crimes?