A town hires more police officers and then has an increase in arrests. One can conclude that the larger police force caused more crime.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The statement is a fallacy known as "correlation does not imply causation." Just because two variables - in this case, the number of police officers and the number of arrests - are correlated (i.e., they change together), it does not mean that one caused the other. It is possible that the increase in arrests was simply due to an increase in criminal activity in the town, rather than the presence of more police officers.

A Town Hires More Police Officers and Then Has an Increase