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Prostitution is a punishable offence for all involved in the US, in Germany? The Police actually pursue and the courts punish people for offenses involving Marijuana or Hashish, in Germany? What is the drinking age in Germany, in many places in the US it's 21. Take a guess what kind of offences comprises a major portion of the US statistics? Here are some other things to think about. Get into your car in the US on a Saturday night and drive a little under the speed limit downtown, see how long it takes before some COP has you blowing into a straw. Does the US really have more DUI's and DWI's or do we just look harder?

The difference is that when some Moroccans peddle Hash in broad daylight in Frankfurt at the Zeil shopping area, the Polizei will actually walk by and pretend they saw nothing, in most places in the US, that Moroccan would have his face in the dirt and be part of a horrible US crime statistic.

I don't think that when it comes to "serial killers" or other freaks the US is any better off, but much of the over all crime in US cities involves prostitution, drugs, driving under the influence and under age drinking. When Germany has a legal drinking age of 16, prostitution is legal and many of the so called recreational drugs are over looked, you don't get less crime because there is less of this going on, it's just not reported.

There is also a matter of definitions (http://www.michigan.gov/dhs/0,1607,7-124-5453_5529_7148-20202--,00.html ). No joke, file false tax claims and you might end up as a federal registered felon (http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=153948,00.html ). Things where the Germans might slap a little fine on you might end you in prison in the US when it comes to taxes. Perjury, as Bill Clinton committed ends up causing people to go to jail, how often does that “really” happen in Germany, even though Meineid is on the book? Define what constitutes a felony and what a misdemeanor? The US automatically considers any bust where over a certain amount of drugs are present as a drug trafficking offense.

Finally there are some other "minor" statistical considerations that need to be considered. The US has 281,000,000 people plus the territories and 11,000,000 illegal aliens. NYC has over 8 million inhabitants (http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=57 ), Berlin not even 3.4 million. Comparing the total number of crimes committed of a population group that is 4 times the size of Germany or a city like Frankfurt with a 1/10th the population of NYC and stating we have more crime is kind of a farce.

Real world example: Arizona. Phoenix calls for a first conviction minimum sentence of 15 consecutive days in prison up to six months and a fine not to exceed $2500. For a 2nd conviction the minimum is 30 consecutive days in prison up to six months and up to the same $2500 fine). In Germany the Prostitute gets a retirement if she works at it long enough. See a difference?

Texas: Possession of the smallest amount of marijuana carries an automatic minimum prison sentence and a felony record. Egal wie wenig, das erste mal und du sitzts.

The effectiveness, morality or economics of the way the US does things can be debated and that’s a whole other issue. But the US is compared to Germany draconian. For example: The prison populations exploded when the three strike rule was passed. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/28/60II/main527248.shtml Das ist nicht erfunden! Drei mal wegen video Kasseten klau und er bekommt automatich 25 Jahre. Ich bin in dieser Hinsicht ja selbst nicht 100% ueberzeugt das dies der betse weg ist. Aber so ist es halt, und dies beeinflusst wie viele im Gefaehgniss sitzen. Wenn man fuer alles gleich jeden einsperrt wirt die Gefaehgniss Bevoelkerung sehr gross und ein Vergleich mit Deutschland in wie viele inhaftierte man hat, heist nicht das da mehr Kriminalitaet ist.

That's not insulting Germany, it's just a matter of how statistics are computed, what the laws and definitions are, the relative population sizes etc. We have our fair share of whacko's, but the German has a bit of a "stereotyped" picture.