How severe the punishment is tends to have a rather limited effect on the occurrence of crime. In the 1600s and 1700s UK law became more and more severe in its punishments for various crimes, to the point that any theft resulted in death by hanging.
But while more severe punishments worked for a short time, it only took a couple of years before crime was back up to its previous numbers. Because the underlying circumstances driving crime did not shift. People generally don't commit crimes for smeg and giggles; because generally crime is already quite dangerous and pays poorly, even if it pays enough to make ends meet. No seriously, crime pays about equal to minimum wage, and you've got much greater odds of dying or severe injury than in most legitimate jobs (and those are better paid).
The ways to suppress crime isn't worse punishments. It's the assurance of getting caught and punished, the removal of circumstances driving crime and a culture that considers crime and life as a criminal as wrong.