I've got a neato little book called "The Economist Pocket World in Figures 2003 Edition".
It's got some figures in it --
Serious Assault
No. per 100,000 population 1999
(Crime statistics are based on offences recorded by the police. The number will therefore depend partly on the efficiency of police administration systems, definition of offences, and the proportion of crimes reported, and therefore may not be strictly comparable)
1. Australia 708.5
15. Canada 140.2
USA doesn't show up in the top 20 and it only goes to 20
Theft -- No. per 100,000 population
1. Denmark -- 7687.6
5. Canada -- 3968.9
USA does not show up in top 20 and it only....
Like it says, they may not be comparable numbers. The book does say that Yanks have about 2.1 million people behind bars (600k more than China). They aren't all there for pot posession so make of this what you will.
I've never even heard of the movie you are talking about it, but the old cliché "you can make statistics say anything" probably applies to his research.
|