It is mostly the consistency, not so much the severity, of punishment which fixes the behavior. People don’t know the exact charges and likely punishments befo

It is mostly the consistency, not so much the severity, of punishment which fixes the behavior. People don’t know the exact charges and likely punishments before they commit a crime, so they don’t game out exactly the risk-reward tradeoff. However, cops generally know the likelihood of avoiding prosecution before they commit a crime. Fixing the disincentive to prosecute police officers for any small crime is 1000x better than doubling the theoretical punishment that is so rarely applied.