Personal Safety Fears at Three-Decade High in U.S.

Forty percent of Americans, the most in three decades, say they would be afraid to walk alone at night within a mile of their home. This indicator of crime fears last reached this level in 1993, when, during one of the worst crime waves in U.S. history, 43% said they would be afraid. Between that year and 2021, an average of 35% of adults have feared for their safety within a mile of home, with the annual results ranging between 29% and 39%.

 The Real Reason Americans Don’t Feel Safe

I walked into the grocery store yesterday and was kindly greeted by a security guard standing at the door. While I certainly appreciated the cheery but awkward smile, I couldn’t help thinking that there simply weren’t security officers at grocery stores back when I was a kid. But somehow the presence of armed guards throughout almost every facet of American life has become a tacit acceptance we all come to have made some time ago, but don’t ever overtly acknowledge, like the encroaching bald spot that looms over our middle-aged existence. It’s now simply a way of life. Be it School Resource Officers (SRO’s) in our schools or Paul Blart’s roaming our malls, security guards have just become a part of modern life. But are we really that much safer for having them there?

A third of the world’s population feels less safe than five years ago, report shows – but not all because of Covid-19

A third of the world’s population feels less safe than five years ago, report shows – but not all because of Covid-19.

America Is Less Safe Under Biden Administration

America is increasingly less secure under President Joe Biden based on the jaw-dropping testimony of senior U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials.

Confidence in Police Rises, but World Doesn't Feel Safer

Notably, the score for the U.S. and Canada -- which suffered one of the biggest regional declines in 2021 -- did not change statistically in 2022, but the countries continued to head in the wrong direction. Perceptions of safety declined most in Canada, where the index score dropped four points in 2022 to a new low of 83 -- matching the score for the U.S., which remained stagnant from the previous year. Although most Canadians continue to trust their local police (78%) and feel safe walking alone at night (74%), both measures dropped to new lows in 2022. The public’s faith has eroded as violent crime keeps rising in Canada, where the murder rate in 2022 was the highest in 30 years.

Crime and Safety in America

Crime weighs heavily on the minds of many Americans, with 61% of registered voters ranking crime in 2022 as "very important" when weighing political decisions. With recent reports of increased violence, what are the factors leading to this spike, and what are the challenges in national data collection efforts? What is the role of the criminal justice system?

The State of Safety in America

Every year we talk to at least 5,000 people to see how safe they feel living in the US. Find out which states worry the most about safety, which ones worry least, and where people have experienced the most run-ins with violent and property crime.

Violent crime is dropping across the country, so why do Americans feel less safe?

Violent crime is down by a lot, and many Americans simply don't believe that fact. So I wanted to understand two things - why has crime dropped, and why don't people perceive it that way? Crime analyst Jeff Asher is co-founder of AH Datalytics, and he says what you see depends a lot on what you're looking at.

Younger Americans Most Likely To Feel Unsafe on a Daily Basis...

Over half of Americans feel like they're in imminent danger at least once a day, according to a new survey. A new poll of 2,000 nationally representative Americans analyzed how they feel about their personal safety and found that 52 percent are feeling on edge every day.