Protection’s primary function is deterrence, not post-crime response

Evidence

Most accounts of mafia protection are biased by the way they become known to us, for we usually hear only about those occasions when something goes wrong and blood is spilled. When things go well, there is either nothing to reveal or no reason to reveal it. The picture we get of protection, then, reflects only interventions after the event, after a dispute has arisen or a crime has occurred. But protection is not simply a repressive measure. On the contrary, as we know, its predominant role is one of deterrence. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 411

Categorization

• XREF: Mirrors the Milgrom observation that visible intervention distorts how we measure private-order institutions; the quiet success of deterrence is what’s invisible.
• SEED: A general epistemic bias: any enforcement institution is judged by its failures because its successes leave no trace — applies to police, courts, insurance, even moderation systems.