They are part of a cycle of private wealth creation that includes, but is not limited to, the following elements:<p>1. Local politicians &quot;save money&quot; by outsourcing management of prisons in their districts to private companies<p>2. Contracts awarded for services within these systems have kickbacks which direct money for services back to the municipalities<p>3. States award contracts to build new prisons in towns, who are told that jobs will be created for their towns, plus the aforementioned kickbacks<p>4. Now that the prisons are built, they have to be filled. So the local police departments get to work arresting people to fill them up. Judges, lawyers, sherrif&#x27;s departments, etc justify their own existences by meeting arrest quotas, being &quot;tough on crime,&quot; etc., get promoted up their respective ladders until they&#x27;re in positions of power to keep the cycle going.