New South Wales (Australia) Police Chief Andrew Scipione wants restrictions on violent video games because he thinks they cause crime.
There exists a literature on whether violent games affect crime rates. The best evidence I've seen says that while violent games get violent people excited about violence, they also reduce crime. How? By keeping violent people in their houses playing violent video games where they'd otherwise be going out to do violent things. They call it "voluntary incapacitation"; prison is "involuntary incapacitation". Or see this one.
At least the technology section of News.com.au is a bit less credulous of Scipione's claims.
It's worth remembering that Scipione also reckoned that the Collins and Lapsley measure of the social costs of alcohol use, a $15 billion figure largely based on costs heavy drinkers impose upon themselves via lower life expectancy, lower wages, and spending on alcohol, was actually a measure of the costs of alcohol-caused crime. I don't know whether he still thinks that the Collins and Lapsley number represents crime costs, but he's still pushing for some fairly serious restrictions on alcohol availability.
The Chief of the Fun Police?
