The cops call them “ropes,” and they are tying themselves into knots – big, expensive, dangerous knots – throughout the community. Repeat offenders, career criminals, call them what you want. A huge proportion of crime is committed by a tiny number of people whose entire lives orbit the criminal justice system. Federal estimates suggest that 6 percent of criminals commit 70 percent of crimes; half the people released from prisons are back within three years. Last week’s extraordinary shooting and police chase shined a bright light on that wholly ordinary reality. Charles Wallace, pictured, the man who shot two deputies and then himself, had a rap sheet longer than a Russian novel. The judge who last let him out of jail to attend drug treatment has taken a lot of heat. But the truth is, people like Wallace are revolving in and out of jail constantly. It’s not a ton of people. But they’re behind a ton of crime/Shawn Vestal, SR. More here.

Question: If you were ruler of the universe, what would you do with "ropes" (career criminals)?