Yesterday, a police department in Ontario, Canada released statistics on 2011 crimes committed, broken down by astrological sign. 1,986 people were arrested in the Chatham-Kent Police Service's district in 2011, and out of all of them, people born under Aries were responsible for committing far more crimes.

 

I ran these numbers through a standard deviation calculator, and was mildly impressed. The average of this set is 165, with a standard deviation of 20. This means that anything between 145 and 185 would be considered normal, random, and essentially a meaningless distinction. 

Aries, at 203 crimes, is almost exactly two standard deviations away from the mean. And Sagittarius, at 139, is 1.5 standard deviations below the mean. These numbers aren't proof that this is a real thing, but they do make it statistically intriguing.

 

The National Post contacted an astrologist who was willing to offer a possible explanation. Aries, she explained, is "the sign of the warrior. Aries rules the military. Aries jump in head first, and love adventure." Meanwhile she suspected that Sagittarius are committing just as many crimes, but that "they don't get caught. They are smooth. They can talk anybody into anything."

 

The Chatham-Kent district is a largely rural one, with very little violent crime. Most of the crimes committed were property crimes and DUIs.

 

This information may simply point to a more rational explanation than the zodiac. Aries are born in spring (March 22 to April 22) while Sagittarius are born at the end of the year (November 22 to December 22). Canada has a school system similar to the U.S. where kids start school every fall, based on their age. 

 

An Aries would have their seventh birthday in the spring, and begin first grade that fall. Whereas a Sagittarius would have their seventh birthday in winter, and begin first grade the next fall. Maybe the extra months give Sagittarius more time to mature before starting school, a head start which would carry forth throughout their entire school career.

 

It's well known that birth month has an effect in many areas of your life. MLB players are much more likely to have been born in August, an effect that most observers put down to the July 31 cut-off date for Little League baseball. Kids born right after that cut-off date have almost an entire year to mature before entering Little League compared to their peers.