The law is always portrayed as black and white, and yet the people the law is designed to govern, and police are not all identical by any means. People can end up committing crimes for a multitude of reasons, and although there may be some perceived benefit to incarcerating them, prison is more about punishment than rehabilitation. Prison costs the authorities huge amounts of money which is why there is legislation covering bail bonds (say, in Derby, CT) and other solutions which enable people to get out of prison quicker.