Maybe we’re disagreeing on what “deterrent” means. I just mean “an incentive not to commit a crime,” not “something that absolutely prevents crime.” If you’re just trying to prove it’s an incentive at all, it’s pretty easy as you only need to find one example of somebody who decided against committing a crime for fear of police.
OK, but then you’re just saying it’s purely down to your prior whether or not you think police are an effective deterrent. Which is not exactly a compelling argument against police. I was kind of hoping you had something more to lean on than that.
no, you didn’t. you can’t prove a counterfactual.
Maybe we’re disagreeing on what “deterrent” means. I just mean “an incentive not to commit a crime,” not “something that absolutely prevents crime.” If you’re just trying to prove it’s an incentive at all, it’s pretty easy as you only need to find one example of somebody who decided against committing a crime for fear of police.
there’s no way to know what they would have decided in a world without police
OK, but then you’re just saying it’s purely down to your prior whether or not you think police are an effective deterrent. Which is not exactly a compelling argument against police. I was kind of hoping you had something more to lean on than that.