NCJ Number
218618
Date Published
2006
Length
69 pages
Annotation
This report presents findings on public worry about crime and perceptions of safety based on responses to the 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 British Crime Survey (BCS), a nationally representative, household victimization survey that has been conducted since 1982.
Abstract
The 2004/2005 BCS indicated that 12 percent of people surveyed had high levels of worry about burglary, 13 percent about vehicle-related crime, and 16 percent about violent crime. Women (14 percent) were more likely than men (10 percent) to have a high level of worry about burglary. Similar proportions of men and women had high levels of worry about vehicle-related crime, but women were far more likely than men to be "very worried" about violence (23 percent compared with 8 percent). Asian and Black respondents were far more likely than White people to have high levels of worry about all three types of crime and also for worry about crime in general. In 2004/2005, 64 percent of BCS respondents felt that fear of crime had a low impact on their quality of life, and an additional 31 percent reported that it had a moderate impact. Only 5 percent of respondents indicated that their fear of crime greatly affected their quality of life. The proportion of people who feel that their quality of life has been greatly affected by their fear of crime has been relatively stable over time, although the figure for 2004/2005 was significantly lower than that for 1998. For 2004/2005, 10 percent of respondents said that they felt "very unsafe" walking alone in their area after dark, and a further 20 percent felt "a bit unsafe." For 82 percent of respondents, seeing more officers on foot patrol would make them feel safer, and 61 percent said this about seeing more officers on patrol in cars. 9 figures and 40 tables