In another instance a group of slightly older youths attacked a notary public in Cherbourg, France, and beat him so mercilessly that he lost consciousness and died three days later. Their motive? “Just for the fun of it.”

Crime is a problem and one we would do well to take seriously. The French government considered it serious enough to warrant the appointment of an 11-man commission to investigate the matter. For 16 months these men deliberated before submitting a 700-page report with 103 recommendations for alleviating the problem.