Crime and the ability to commit crimes by the average citizen in society plays an essential role as an indicator of deep structural problems within a social system. That role could be seen as that of the role played by symptomatic responses to disease (in the human body). When you have an infection, or a virus is attacking your body, you'll have symptoms alerting you of it, and then yo go see a doctor and get medication.
If you suppress or atrophy the ability for your body to exhibit symptoms due to underlying causes (disease, infections, viruses, etc.), you'll die quickly.
I argue that there is a similar crucial and vital relationship between deep structural problems within society, and the rise or fall in crime rates (across the board). That break up contributes to the demise of the body politic (democracy and freedom).
"It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death." - Maimonides
The increasingly ubiquitous police/surveillance state, fueled by incredible advances in information technology, is contributing to the breakup of that symptomatic relationship between systemic problems and crime rates.
This sets the stage for the rise of a new type of techno-fascist state, with the potential of being more oppressive than any regime in human history.
Within the bowels of the system, there is a fatal disease which will eventually destroy any remnants of freedom and democracy in this country (U.S.). It is where the real crimes (because of their consequences) are taking place. It consists of the influence peddling of corrupt, moneyed interests hellbent on turning the system into a neo-feudal society ruled by a very small and powerful elite. We are way on our way towards such outcome.
And yet, the surveillance state is not being used to monitor that part of the system--at all. Instead, it is being turned against the citizens:
Private company hoarding license-plate data on U.S. drivers
January 12, 2012 | G.W. Schulz
Capitalizing on one of the fastest-growing trends in law enforcement, a private California-based company has compiled a database bulging with more than 550 million license-plate records on both innocent and criminal drivers that can be searched by police.
The technology has raised alarms among civil libertarians, who say it threatens the privacy of drivers. It’s also evidence that 21st-century technology may be evolving too quickly for the courts and public opinion to keep up. The U.S. Supreme Court is only now addressing whether investigators can secretly attach a GPS monitoring device to cars without a warrant.
So, in essence, what we are witnessing is an increasingly corrupt and oppressive system rising, while freedom and privacy rights continue to be eroded for the average citizen.
There is a big difference between the state taking enforcement action against a citizen suspected of committing a crime (probable cause), and the casting of a wide surveillance net.
For example, think of it in these terms... Imagine a four-lane highway anywhere in one of our big cities during morning rush hour. Let's say that at a particular time there are tens of thousands of cars within a segment of the highway. Imagine if the State (authorities) were to close the highway and send hundreds of police officers (or the military) to search every single car within that segment, and run arrest warrant and background checks on every single person in those vehicles!
You'll find all kinds of things... Extortionists, pimps, prostitutes, people heading to work, drug users, drug dealers, petty thieves, people with all kinds of arrests warrants, etc.
But those people being there in a way signify the price of freedom. The existence of a certain level of crime (committed by average citizens) within society tells me I live in a free system.
And as long as we have a law enforcement system that adhere to constitutional (privacy, habeas corpus) protections, it will serve as a counterbalance to rampant criminality.
But you can't have as a goal, the elimination of all crimes (for the reasons I stated above). A sure sign of a totalitarian, oppressive, and fascistic system is the imposition of a police/surveillance state focused on stamping out all incidences of crime in society. And this is especially true when you inject a profit motive into the equation, as it is the case now in our system.
And this is especially true when the system, because of deep and endemic corruption, legalizes crimes committed by the wealthy and powerful at the highest levels, and where those crimes are not subject to the same level of surveillance.