You could prevent crime from ever happening in the first place. The more mentally ill, drug addicted and homelessness you've got in a city, without any kind of

You could prevent crime from ever happening in the first place. The more mentally ill, drug addicted and homelessness you've got in a city, without any kind of support for them, the worse the crime is going to get. Punishment doesn't fix anything, just keeps them with nothing to lose.