Strangely enough I don’t see the Wild West of El Salvador as especially relevant
Your response to Pete suggested to me, maybe incorrectly, that you don't support the sort of liberal approaches successful adopted in Norway and that you feel a more repressive/punitive approach can be more successful. El Salvador is an extreme example of this which in terms of crime reduction has been a outstandingly successful. It has gone from having the highest homicide rate in the world to becoming a relatively safe country in a short period and by far the safest in the region. As a result the President is genuinely one of the world's most popular leaders.
This has been achieved through a highly punitive approach and at the expense of peoples' human rights. Many people have been imprisoned just on suspicion of being involved in criminality, especially the drug trade.
For the avoidance of doubt I don't support such an approach but it is an interesting example. Most people in El Salvador say they are content to have lost their rights and not overly concerned that innocent people are incarcerated as they now feel safe going about their daily lives.
Of course, the sort of things Norway are doing are right in my view but it is easy to understand why the El Salvador approach has popular support at least in their context.
