In a sane society, an increase in arrests would be seen as a sign of failure.
We treat it like scoring points in a basketball game and give out bonuses.

[...]

That’s Kevin Drum in Mother Jones: California’s Prison Disaster.
A nice little piece about the prison mess

A combination of dumb drug laws, dysfunctional parole policies, “three strikes” laws passed by initiative, an endless procession of tougher-than-thou politicians, and a famously thuggish and politically powerful prison guards union has gotten California into this mess.

But, while Kevin is friends [...]