As Japan's population ages further into their golden years, law enforcement officials are faced with a strange new problem: a dramatic rise in crimes committed by senior citizens!
Recent high profile arrests in the country include an 83-year-old woman busted for pickpocketing and a 76-year-old man who attacked a young child.
The bizarre trend has been concerning officials for the last few years and, in 2015, they announced that, for the first time ever, crimes committed by the elderly actually outnumbered those of their juvenile counterparts.
Amazingly, the number of violent crimes attributed to senior citizens in Japan has grown nearly 11 percent in the last year, while murders and robberies rose a whopping 12 percent.
It is believed that the 'crime wave' may be due to a growing disparity between the rich and the poor in Japan as well as the more recent social trend of senior citizens living alone rather than with family.
So while visitors to Japan may be on guard when they encounter a group of rowdy teenagers, the true threat is more likely to be the little old lady who smiled at them while stealing their traveler's checks.
Source: The Telegraph