GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup's annual update on Americans and crime shows that 22% of all households experienced some type of crime during the past year, with 15% mentioning one incident and another 7% mentioning two or more incidents. The poll also shows that 37% of all crime was not reported to the police.
A similar poll conducted a year ago found a slightly higher victimization rate and a lower non-report rate, suggesting that official government figures should reflect a higher drop in crime over the past year than what might actually be the case. According to last year's poll, 24% of all households experienced some type of crime, just two percentage points higher than this year's number, and within the polls' margins of error. Last year's poll also showed that 27% of all crime was not reported, 10 points lower than the non-report rate found this year.
Both polls asked respondents if specific crime incidents had happened to them, or to anyone in their household, over the past 12 months. The polls also included questions asking whether each incident mentioned in the poll had been reported to the police. As shown in the table below, the two most frequently mentioned crimes both years were having money or property stolen (11% this year, 14% last year) and having one's home, car or property vandalized (11% and 12%). Theft was also the least reported crime, with less than half of the incidents reported to the police.
Three percent of respondents say each of the following about the past year: their house or apartment was broken into, a car was stolen, or someone in the household was mugged. Separately, 1% of respondents report someone in the household being the victim of a robbery. A net total of 4% of all American households experienced one or more violent crimes.
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Please tell me which, if any, of these incidents have happened to you or your household within the last 12 months? |
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CRIME INCIDENT |
2001 |
2000 |
|
% |
% |
|
|
Money or property stolen from you or another member of your household |
11 |
14 |
|
A home, car, or property owned by you or other household member vandalized |
11 |
12 |
|
Your house or apartment broken into |
3 |
4 |
|
A car owned by you or other household member stolen |
3 |
4 |
|
You or other household member mugged or physically assaulted |
3 |
3 |
|
Money or property taken from you or other household member by force, with gun, knife, weapon or physical attack, or by threat of force |
1 |
2 |
|
Net Percentage of Households Experiencing Any Crime |
22 |
24 |
|
Net Percentage of Households Experiencing Violent Crime |
4 |
4 |
|
Percentage of All Crime Not Reported to Police |
37 |
27 |
Like Last Year, Crime Highest Among the Young and People in
Urban Areas
While there are some variations from last year, the table below shows that the highest rates of victimization continue to be among young people and those who live in urban areas, while people 65 and older are by far the least likely to report any experience with crime in the past year.
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CRIME INCIDENTS COMPARED BY SELECTED DEMOGRAPHICS |
|
2001 |
2000 |
|
|
% |
% |
|
|
All Households |
22 |
24 |
|
Age |
||
|
18-29 |
30 |
39 |
|
30-49 |
27 |
25 |
|
50-64 |
17 |
19 |
|
65+ |
8 |
8 |
|
Region |
||
|
East |
19 |
20 |
|
Midwest |
20 |
23 |
|
South |
22 |
30 |
|
West |
29 |
22 |
|
Community |
||
|
Urban |
28 |
32 |
|
Suburban |
20 |
23 |
|
Rural |
21 |
16 |
|
Race |
||
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White |
21 |
23 |
|
Nonwhite |
32 |
31 |
|
Income |
||
|
<$20k |
21 |
18 |
|
$20-<$30k |
27 |
34 |
|
$30-<$50k |
26 |
19 |
|
$50-<$75k |
19 |
28 |
|
$75k+ |
22 |
19 |
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Gender |
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|
Male |
21 |
27 |
|
Female |
23 |
21 |
Some of the major results are as follows:
- The most pronounced differences in the crime rate are found among age groups. The younger the American, the more likely he or she is to report having been the victim of a crime. Thirty percent of the youngest age group (18-29) report that their household experienced some crime in the past year, compared with 27% in the 30- to 49-year-old group, 17% in the 50-64 group, and only 8% among people 65 or older. Although the exact percentages are not the same in both years, the patterns are very similar.
- The relationship between crime and income is not straightforward. Americans most likely to report crime are those with annual incomes in the $20,000 to $50,000 range. Those in the very lowest income group, and those in the two highest income groups, are less likely than the middle income groups to report having been a victim of crime.
- Among the four regions in the country, the highest crime rate this year is found in the West, with 29% of households experiencing some crime in the past year, compared with 19%-22% in the other three regions.
- Similar to last year, people in urban areas report higher levels of victimization than do people in suburban and rural areas. A comparison of the results suggests that crime may have dropped somewhat in urban and suburban areas, mostly counterbalanced by a slight increase in rural areas.
- Like last year, nonwhite households this year report considerably higher rates of crime than do white households -- 32% vs. 21%. Last year, the comparable numbers were 31% and 23%.
Survey Methods
The results reported here are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected sample of 1,006 adults across the 48 contiguous states, aged 18+, conducted Oct. 11-14, 2001. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
