Americans are now more concerned about crime and violence than at any other time in the last 15 years. Gallup conducted a survey in March throughout all 50 states and found 53 percent of U.S. adults worry “a great deal” about crime and violence.
Previously, crime and violence (as polled by Gallup) peaked in March of 2001, prior to the 9/11 disaster, with 62 percent of those polled registering worry and concern. But after 9/11, crime and violence no longer were seen as most important, with terrorism rising to the top.
In 2002 Americans expressed more concern for other issues: Iraq, terrorism, the economy, dissatisfaction with government and healthcare were cited as the most important problems facing the country. Crime and violence fell to a record-low 39 percent in 2014.
Gallup reporter Alyssa Davis stated, “The rise in Americans’ level of concern about crime could reflect actual, albeit modest, increases in crime as well as increasing media coverage of it. The number of violent crimes reported to police across the country in the first half of 2015 was up by 1.7 percent compared with the same period in 2014, according to the FBI’s 2015 Uniform Crime Report.”
Even though violent crimes are down significantly since the 1990s, many large cities reported spikes in their homicide rate in 2015, including Milwaukee, St. Louis, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Demographics of the Gallup survey show worry of crime increased most among Americans without a college degree and those living in low-income households. Non-Whites’ concern is much higher than Whites’ worry about the issue. Women and older Americans are more worried than their male and younger counterparts.
The worry over drug use has followed the same pattern as concern about crime and violence over the last 15 years. The rise in worry over drug use preceded President Obama’s announcement on March 29 about his plan to reduce drug abuse and overdose deaths.
According to the Gallup report these findings suggest that even if many Americans are not aware of increased crime where they live, they may be exposed to media coverage of rising crime and violence throughout the U.S.
