This is something that has been on my mind for a while, which gives a little bit more reasoning behind the high crime rates throughout the different worlds of Free Space.
During The War
Many different planets throughout the Free Space territory opened up their armouries and dockyards to the general populace. During the initial conflict, much of the assembled fleets were destroyed, and any remnant forces were scattered, either to live a life on the fringes of space - performing small-scale guerilla warfare tactics - or the personnel deserted entirely, to then become little more than small time raiders and pirates; taking advantage of desperate times.
Others used the opportunity to help out in evacuations throughout the region of space, aiding people where possible - and lining their pockets when they could: crews need to be fed after all.
The first and second novels I wrote - which started off this entire thing - are about a crew who spent most of the war living this sort of lifestyle. They aren't inherently criminals, but they do have connections built up on both sides of the law, and utilise these connections to make a few FSTs when they can.
Militias
There were many large militias throughout the galaxy, formed for the sake of self-preservation, either banded together by a particular government's will, or by their own accord. Usually, these groups started with one main player who took the initiative, alongside a few people below them.
In dark times, most people who wanted to help, or felt afraid would congregate around the nearest band of people who seemed like they knew what they were doing.
These cells operated individually, but in some cases - especially if they were formed by officials - they would operate as many squadrons/ units capable of tactical movements on a large scale to help defend their homeworld or support foreign systems.
There were, however, many opportunistic bands of people who were little more than raiders and were more of a hindrance to their own people than a defence force.
Most of the Free Space governments - after the collapse of the Free Space Board of Worlds (FSBW) - acted independently through the majority of the war.
Zun Kulla was the first world to open up their arsenals to the militias, and militarised civilians. From here, the rest of the worlds followed suit and started to do the same.
The major issue was the fact that there was little to no vetting of each group due to the war, and each band was given access to incredible firepower. Some groups even star-jumped to different planets as a way to trade between other bands of people and gun run, as a way of expanding each group's arsenal.
Some people used weaponry, and in some cases, ships, to make a profit on the side of the conflict taking place.
The Disarmament Pact
As the dust settled over Free Space, and what remained of The Confederation forces limped back to their territory, the governments of each world put out the word that the war was over. Soon after, they requested that all arms and armaments be returned to their rightful owners and that all groups disband.
For many, this was a fair request, and arms started to come back in, however, for many, The war was too fresh in their minds. Most justified holding onto their arsenals in case The Confederation was lulling Free Space into a false sense of security.
Most of the groups who kept their weapons went rogue and started to terrorise local populations. In a lot of cases, these heavily armed bands of people outgunned and outnumbered local governments. When they turned to raiding, some worlds weren't able to rebuild to the same level as the likes of Jex.
Scoosha is an example of a world where the war never ended, and the people there live in the hollowed-out husk of what their cities used to be.
Organised crime is rampant throughout Free Space to the current day, and these old defenders are now the attackers of progress holding each world they dwell on to ransom. Worlds like Jex turned to criminals to fight criminals, and what they have now is a war being waged throughout Talirda - the capital city - where the corrupt TPD and T-TEC are the only shield against gangs, but their methods leave much to be desired and in many cases they kill as many civilians as any other group on that world.