A better crime and punishment system is retroactive
Not necessarily. An idea I've long had is for High Security stations to have Emergency Shield Generators for nearby ships. Basically, anything within the no-fire zone would get an additional shield projected on top of any normal shield or hull they have. This would effectively and preemptively prohibit behavior like suiciding into someone to give them a bounty.
A second way it could be preemptive is by changing how the police respond to interdiction. If the countdown to the arrival of police started at the START of the interdiction minigame, then if a player is able to fight the interdiction for a reasonable length of time, the police will drop in at exactly the same time as the players. Then just give the police the same technology to generate shields on non-hostile players.
A third way could be just arriving at the hostile player's location and interdicting them more often if they have a bounty. It should be significantly difficult to get through a high-sec system in supercruise with a hostile relationship/bounty; I'm envisioning players dodging police and dropping into a ring to lose attention from the cops, then waiting for the right moment to make their sprint to their ultimate destination. This is also good for the criminal, as it allows for greater rewards for 'legitimate' criminal behavior.
But regardless, a good C&P system extends far beyond just punishing players for crimes after the fact. A good one works to prevent them from happening in the first place.
Edit: Good Morning!
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