Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe crime is a “very” or “extremely” serious problem in the United States, according to a recent study. New Gallup Poll Released Thursday.
The 63% rate is the highest ever compiled by Gallup, with the previous record of 60% set in 2000, 2010 and 2016.
A small percentage of respondents considered crime to be very serious in their community, just 17 percent, but more than half thought crime had risen in their area.
Nationally, about three-quarters of Americans believe crime has risen, underscoring conservative politicians’ tough-on-crime rhetoric.
Republicans were more likely to believe that crime is on the rise nationally, with 92% of them holding this belief compared to 58% of Democrats. Republican respondents also believed national crime was a more serious issue, with 78% versus 51% of Democrats.
It is difficult to compare the perception of crime to real-life factors as the FBI recently changed the way it collects data, but Gallup’s self-reporting of crime victims has increased.
A fifth of respondents said someone in their family had been the victim of a crime this year, a near-record number. According to the survey, most of the crimes reported were vandalism and car theft.
But Gallup said the increase in perception of crime could also be a result of repeated messaging about crime through politics and an increase in homicides in some cities, which is drawing attention in the media.
Despite the increased attention, crime is still the top issue for 3% of Americans, according to a separate Gallup poll, a stark contrast from the 1994 poll, when crime was the top issue for more than 40% of respondents. This number has not exceeded 10 percent since the recession.
The Gallup Crime Poll polled about 1,000 Americans over the course of October, with a margin of error of 4 percent.
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