NCJ Number
46241
Editor(s)
A L PAEZ
Date Published
1978
Length
64 pages
Annotation
FINDINGS ARE PRESENTED OF A SURVEY OF 4,965 HOUSING UNITS (8,794 RESIDENTS OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.) CONDUCTED IN 1974 UNDER THE NATIONAL CRIME SURVEY PROGRAM.
Abstract
BASED ON 37 STATISTICAL DATA TABLES, THE DISCUSSION CENTERS ON PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES RELATING TO TRENDS IN CRIME, FEAR OF CRIME, RESIDENTIAL PROBLEMS AND LIFESTYLES, AND LOCAL POLICE PERFORMANCE. ALTHOUGH RESIDENTS OF MINNEAPOLIS BELIEVED CRIME WAS ON THE INCREASE IN THE NATION AND THAT THEIR OWN CHANCE OF BEING VICTIMIZED BY ASSAULT OR ROBBERY HAD INCREASED, THEY MAINTAINED THAT THEIR WAY OF LIFE HAD BEEN RELATIVELY UNAFFECTED BY CRIME OR FEAR OF CRIME. ONLY 3 OF 10 RESPONDENTS ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THEY HAD LIMITED OR CHANGED THEIR DAILY ROUTINE AS A CONSEQUENCE OF FEAR OF CRIME. WHEN PLANNING PERSONAL ACTIVITIES, SUCH AS DINING OUT OR GOING TO THE THEATER OR CINEMA, CRIME WAS RARELY REGARDED AS THE MOST IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION. SIMILARLY, CRIME WAS NOT THE PRIME CONCERN WITH REGARD TO IMPORTANT HOUSEHOLD ACTIVITIES, SUCH AS MOVING FROM AN OLD NEIGHBORHOOD, SELECTING A NEW ONE, OR SHOPPING. WHILE FEW RESPONDENTS BELIEVED THAT THE CRIME RATE HAD DECLINED, MOST FELT THE NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME HAD REMAINED UNCHANGED OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS; IT WAS ALSO EVIDENT THAT THE RESPONDENTS REGARDED THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD AS SAFER THAN OTHER PARTS OF THE METROPOLITAN AREA. WHEN ASKED ABOUT THEIR FEELINGS OF PERSONAL SAFETY WHEN OUT ALONE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, A MAJORITY OF RESIDENTS SAID THEY FELT SAFE DURING THE DAYTIME AND REASONABLY SAFE AT NIGHT. HOWEVER, RESPONSES DID TEND TO DIFFER ALONG SEXUAL AND RACIAL LINES. ALTHOUGH MOST WHITE RESIDENTS FELT THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS WERE LESS OR MUCH LESS DANGEROUS THAN OTHER AREAS, MOST BLACKS RATED THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS AS ONLY AVERAGE. WHILE NEARLY ALL THE MEN FELT REASONABLY SAFE IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS AT NIGHT, HALF OF THE WOMEN RESPONDENTS FELT UNSAFE. RATING OF POLICE PERFORMANCE ALSO SPLIT ALONG RACIAL LINES; A MAJORITY OF WHITE RESIDENTS BELIEVED THAT THE LOCAL POLICE WERE DOING A GOOD JOB OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, WHILE BLACKS RATED POLICE PERFORMANCE AS ABOUT AVERAGE. THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT AND A GLOSSARY ARE INCLUDED. THIS REPORT IS 1 OF A SERIES OF 13 AND A COMPANION TO 'CRIMINAL VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS IN MINNEAPOLIS' -- NCJ-34824. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--KBL)