If you caught every instance of someone breaking a law then the fines can be pretty low. Eg If you knew that there was a 99% chance that you'd be fined every t

If you caught every instance of someone breaking a law then the fines can be pretty low. Eg If you knew that there was a 99% chance that you'd be fined every time for minor traffic offenses (going 5k over the speed limit, failure to indicate, etc) then the fine could be $20 and nobody would do it. Instead the fine is much higher but only a small proportion are caught. It also works for major offenses. Longer jail sentences don't deter crime as much as the likelihood of being caught.