According to new research, Americans are isolating themselves from their communities because they are concerned about certain crimes. According to the FBI, the increase in fear comes as violent crime has declined countrywide while property crime has risen. According to a Nov. 16 news release, a recent Gallup poll indicated that 28% of Americans are concerned about being murdered on a regular or irregular basis. That’s an almost-record high. The Gallup poll polled 1,009 adults between October 2 and October 23, with a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
Meanwhile, half of U.S. adults are anxious that their car will be stolen or broken into, 37% are concerned about being mugged, and 32% are concerned about being attacked while driving, all of which are near-record highs. According to the research, the vast majority of Americans, 72%, are concerned about becoming victims of identity theft. This increased fear has had a negative impact on Americans’ daily lives, prompting them to curtail routine activities. According to the poll, four out of ten Americans—the highest level in three decades—are terrified to go within a mile of their houses alone at night. The last time concerns about walking alone were so high was in 1993, when nationwide crime was near an all-time high, according to a 2016 report from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Concerns about crime discourage one-third of Americans from driving in particular areas of their communities
Concerns about crime discourage one-third of Americans, or 34%, from driving in particular areas of their communities, while 28% avoid attending activities such as concerts, fairs, and sporting events. More than a quarter, 28%, of those polled indicated their fear of crime has kept them from approaching strangers. According to government data, these increased anxieties are largely at odds with the decreased trend in violent crime in the United States. According to the FBI, violent crime in the United States peaked in 1991, with 758 offenses per 100,000 people. It has dropped rapidly since then, with only a few upticks in between.
Property crimes, namely burglaries, jumped up to a total of 847,522 offenses in 2022. But, like violent crime, it has dropped markedly from a high of more than 2.8 million offenses in 1990. While spikes in urban crime are “serious cause for concern,” according to the Brennan Center for Justice, “history shows these trends do not necessarily signal the start of a new nationwide crime wave, and even with these increases, crime and murder rates remain near historic lows.” Research has shown that there is no connection between crime rates and levels of concern about crime, Barry Glassner, a sociologist and author of “The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things,” told McClatchy News.
One factor that contributes to the heightened levels of fear is local television news, Glassner said. “If you watch local TV news in almost any city in the country almost any night, you’ll see scary stories about crime in your community,” he said, noting that these stories are not necessarily reflective of broader patterns.
Furthermore, state and municipal officials frequently incite fear of crime as a winning campaign strategy, according to Glassner. “My recommendation is to get the facts,” Glassner advised. “See whether, in fact, crime is up in your community or if instead you’re hearing a lot about specific incidents that may in fact be alarming, but that do not in any way indicate a trend that you need to worry about.” Experts claim Americans have an ‘unusually high level’ of disdain toward 2024 hopefuls. The majority of Americans support a cease-fire in Gaza, despite Biden’s opposition, according to a poll.
