Highlights
National and local perceptions/fear about crime are at or near their peak levels for the past 25 years.
Americans are more likely to perceive crime in the U.S. as having increased over the prior year than they have been at any point since 1993, Gallup.
Crime may be an important issue in next year’s midterm elections, Gallup. Most Americans are impacted by street or computer crimes yearly.
Fifty-one percent, up from 38% in 2020, say there is more crime in their area than a year ago.
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A headline in The Hill (newspaper of Congress), “More Americans say crime getting worse.”
It was obvious that fear of crime would increase based on the endless stories and media accounts of rising homicides and violent crime.
Firearm and security sales are skyrocketing. People are moving out of cities.
The recent riots (costing over two billion dollars in insurance coverage) created images that cities were simply out of control. Police officers are leaving the job with some cities reporting record lows in personnel with wait times for 911 calls increasing.
Gallup (rearranged quotes)
Americans’ perception that crime in their local (emphasis added) area is getting worse has surged over the past year.
Fifty-one percent, up from 38% in 2020, say there is more crime in their area than a year ago.
Meanwhile, U.S. adults’ belief that crime is up nationally (emphasis added) remains high, at 74%, little changed from 78% in 2020.
Both figures are at or near their peak levels for the past 25 years.
In addition to the 51% who say there is more crime in their local area, 29% say there is less and 18% about the same. The 13-percentage-point increase in the percentage saying there is more crime this year has mostly been accompanied by a 10-point drop in the percentage saying there is less crime.
The latest results are based on an Oct. 1-19 poll, conducted shortly after the FBI released its final 2020 crime rate statistics, showing a sharp increase in murders at the same time property crimes declined. However, that likely only confirmed what Americans already knew from preliminary reports, as well as ongoing news of a continued violent crime wave in 2021, particularly in U.S. cities.
A much higher percentage of adults typically say that crime is worsening in the U.S. than say this about their local area. While on par with the 78% last year saying crime was up nationally, the 74% recorded today is on the high end of the 41% to 78% range seen since 1996.
Thirty-seven percent of U.S. adults say there is an area near where they live — “that is, within a mile” — where they would be afraid to walk alone at night. This is up from 29% last year, the all-time low in Gallup’s trend dating back to 1965.
The data is influenced by political affiliation, gender, and where you live.
Previous Fear of Crime Data
Americans’ concerns over crime have hit a four-year high, according to a Washington Post- ABC News poll released Friday. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said that crime is an “extremely” or “very serious” problem in the U.S., the highest level since 2017. On a local level, worries about crime are also growing, though lower than the national concern, The Hill (Newspaper Of Congress).
Americans are more likely to perceive crime in the U.S. as having increased over the prior year (78%) than they have been at any point since 1993, Gallup.
Gallup presents a multi-year overview of perceptions of crime, see Gallup.
After the riots and protests of 2020, a majority of Americans say they are concerned about rising crime in U.S. cities, according to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill. Seventy-seven percent of respondents say they are concerned that crime is rising in the nation’s cities, while 46 percent of respondents said they were concerned about rising crime in their own communities, The Hill.
Worry About Crime: 75 percent of Americans worry about crime and violence (April 2019), Gallup.
Fear of crime was the top national concern in 2018. Per Gallup, 75 percent of Americans worry about crime and violence (down from 78 percent in March 2018), which was the same as health care, the top concern, Fear of Crime. Gallup asked those polled if they worried about topics a great deal or a fair amount. Crime was ranked the same as health care using a combined score.
Half of Americans believe crime is very or extremely serious. In 2018, just under half (49%) of Americans believe the problem of crime in the United States is very or extremely serious — a 10-percentage-point drop and the first time the number has been below 50% since 2005, Serious Crime Concerns.
Conclusions
Democratic political strategist James Carville blamed his party’s recent losses and weak performance in state elections on “stupid wokeness.”
“What went wrong is just stupid wokeness. Don’t just look at Virginia and New Jersey. Look at Long Island, look at Buffalo, look at Minneapolis, even look at Seattle, Wash. I mean, this ‘defund the police’ lunacy, this take Abraham Lincoln’s name off of schools. I mean that — people see that,” Carville said, The Hill.
Gallup and the FBI say that violence and categories of overall crime have increased.
In contrast, there are major national publications insisting that violence hasn’t increased. Americans are criticized for their overreactions to violence.
Violence in America has taken on a life of its own. The defund the police movement was pure political lunacy. Progressives and critics ignore the feelings of Americans at their own peril.
“Should the murder rate remain high into 2022, that could compel more of a shift in Democrats’ views as well as intensify Republicans’ concerns, likely making crime an important issue in next year’s midterm elections,” Gallup.
See More
See more articles on crime and justice at Crime in America.
Most Dangerous Cities/States/Countries at Most Dangerous Cities.
US Crime Rates at Nationwide Crime Rates.
National Offender Recidivism Rates at Offender Recidivism.
An Overview Of Data On Mental Health at Mental Health And Crime.
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