The difference is that the US has the money to attack the root causes of much of crime: poverty, and (mental) health care. But instead, it spends even more mon

The difference is that the US has the money to attack the root causes of much of crime: poverty, and (mental) health care. But instead, it spends even more money punishing those who commit crimes. This has zero effect on reducing crimes, but makes people feel good about punishing the bad guys, because again: it's morally superior in American culture to punish 'The Bad People', and it's difficult to be elected on a platform that can be seen as helping 'The Bad People'. The cost of putting 100 at-risk kids into after-school programs to help steer them away from crime isn't small. But if it keeps 1 person out of prison, it pays for itself many times over. And Americans, generally, don't want to fund this sort of thing.