Re: What's the alternative?
"So do you let some of the low-level guys go even if you've got sufficient evidence to charge them?"
In the case of Cyril Smith, and other high-ranking paedophiles, it was a case of letting them go despite sufficient evidence to arrest and charge. Resources were very much taken away from investigating those in ivory towers.
The problem with being an "ordinary" person is you can't evade justice when you do something wrong. But if you're rich and/or powerful, you get a knighthood. Justice is something that happens to the little people.