That is plausible. These two narratives are not even inconsistent with each other.
In fact, we might not even have (initially) overstaffed prosecutors offices; we might have had the right # to clean up the 80's, and simply maintained staffing levels when we should have reduced it. (Shrinking leviathon is hard.)
Though are you intending to suggest that crime wasn't as big a deal as it was perceived during our "decades-long national freakout"? I haven't investigated this and have no real opinion, I'm just curious.
Crime is definitely less of a big deal now than it was during the freakout. The money question is, were deliberate criminal justice intervention the reason why crime dropped, or were extrinsic factors (like lead toxicity or family planning services or improved education)? If it's the latter, we need to reevaluate the resources we allocate to the criminal justice system. Maybe: fewer prosecutors, more judges.
In fact, we might not even have (initially) overstaffed prosecutors offices; we might have had the right # to clean up the 80's, and simply maintained staffing levels when we should have reduced it. (Shrinking leviathon is hard.)
Though are you intending to suggest that crime wasn't as big a deal as it was perceived during our "decades-long national freakout"? I haven't investigated this and have no real opinion, I'm just curious.