It costs as much keep a criminal in prison for a year as to pay an officer, or about $40,000 to $70,000 per year depending on who's counting. But if a criminal walks free and causes a single extended hospitalization or death, the medical bills alone for 1 victim will be more than that. Even a non-violent thief can often rack up that much in stolen goods in a year. The part you can't calculate is the human cost. What's the price of a single child getting addicted to heroin or meth? What's the price