ISSUE GUIDES: Crime

PUBLIC VIEW: PEOPLE’S CHIEF CONCERNS
  • Most Americans say reducing crime should be a top priority for Congress, but other issues rank higher
  • Perceptions about the crime rate have fluctuated since the 1990s, but growing numbers say crime has increased
  • Very few Americans say they or their immediate family has been a victim of violent crime
  • About half of Americans say they avoid certain neighborhoods because of their concern over crime, and roughly three in 10...
  • One-quarter of parents of school-aged children fear for their child's safety at school, but few say their children have...
  • More than half of Americans say there should be new policies to make college campuses more secure, but eight in 10 say no...
  • Nearly half of parents say they are “very” concerned that their children are being exposed to too much violent content in the...
  • People express more confidence in the police than in many other societal institutions
  • There are significant racial differences between whites and blacks in their levels of confidence in the police
  • Four in 10 blacks say they have felt they were stopped by the police because of their race, and whites are more likely than...
  • The vast majority of Americans believe the Constitution was meant to protect all people, but more than six in 10 say...
  • About four in 10 say they have a gun in their home, and two-thirds of those who own a gun say they use it for...
  • Americans are divided on whether having a gun in the house makes it a safer or more dangerous place
  • Large majorities of Americans say they "rarely" or "never" worry about being the victim of violent crimes, such as...