What makes someone stop committing crime? This is one of the most studied questions in criminology; and the answer might surprise you. It's not harsher sentences. It's not more surveillance. Research on desistance from crime, the scientific study of why and how people permanently move away from offending, shows consistently that people stop when their circumstances change. When they have a job that gives them dignity and routine. When they have a stable place to live. When they have relationships, a partner, a mentor, a community, that give them something to protect. When they have mental health support that helps them address the roots of what got them here in the first place. Desistance is not a moment. It's a process. And communities that invest in that process get safer. The Bureau of Justice Statistics found that recidivism rates among individuals who served state sentences can reach 83% within nine years, but RAND Corporation research shows that those rates drop dramatic...