British Mathematicians State the Obvious

According to Volterra Consulting, the crucial step in preventing crime is to keep someone from committing their first criminal act. And how did these brilliant people come up with this idea? Common sense perhaps? No, subtle deviations in power law when studying crime statistics from two studies on delinquent behaviour.

They came to this conclusion after finding that people who do and don't commit crimes appear to be governed by slightly different statistical rules. The two types live in different mathematical worlds, the researchers say. A switch in statistical behaviour occurs just once, when a young person crosses the divide.

Don't cross that line, kids, or you might enter some deviant world of criminal maths.