The "CSI effect" [1] tends to lead people to believe law enforcement is far more capable and effective than it is. Murder is the most likely to be solved crime, and its clearance/solving rate in the US is currently trending to drop below 50% for the first time ever. In some high crime areas like St. Louis, murder clearance rates are already in the thirties. [3]

The point of this is that the civility of society is, for better and for worse, not upheld by enforcement - but by an unspoken agreement to a social contract. If any remotely sizable group of people chose to break that agreement, it would be unpleasant times ahead. Even this issue aside, it seems self evident that trying to run a society through coercion would be unstable at best.

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI_effect

[2] - https://www.murderdata.org/p/blog-page.html

[3] - https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/05/08/americas-...