I see you're getting downvotes, but it would be interesting if distractions do lead to a decrease in crime.

The modern interpretation of "bread and circuses": Subsidized food and broadband ubiquity with 24/7 access to whatever stimulates and titillates (sex, violence, a captive audience) can lead to a more sedate populace. Of course, that was one factor that led to the decline of the Roman Empire, too. When you've got a pretty sweet deal going, why risk going to jail and messing it all up?

I'd also like to see if the rise in the access, use and broad social acceptance of pharmaceutical opiates, anti-psychotics, and anti-depressants is also contributing to the decline. You can't really go out and rape and murder if you're hopped up on goofballs.

I guess I should have written more if I wanted to be taken seriously. Crime, like everything else, takes time. If you play video games 4 hours a day, that's 4 hours a day that you are neither able to shoot people, nor are you outside to be shot. Given that the demos likely to commit crimes and play video games overlap so strongly, this has to be considered.

Excellent point, but I think you could just say cheap electronic entertainment. The Internet, torrents, Netflix, and video games in particular could be a huge factor in the crime rate. They are (relatively) cheap, ubiquitous, and huge time sinks.

Good point. The sad thing is of course that if you were able to show a clear correlation between (violent) video games and criminals, the most probable reaction would be to ban these games.