During times of upheaval and social change, a moral panic emerges that typically takes the form of a rising concern about crime. A racist explanation of crime is common in such periods. Crime waves are blamed on ethnic minorities, migrant workers, the underclass, or international criminals. There is also an increasing reliance on the police to provide social control and stability. This is translated into pressure for more police officers, more police technology, more money, and more legal powers. Such a common trend in times of upheaval is based in two primary assumptions: that the police hold the key to crime control and that crime is almost exclusively committed by strangers in public spaces controlled by the police. Data do not support these assumptions. The bulk of crime is not reported to the police, so police cannot respond to it; and citizens, particularly women, are more likely to suffer harm in their own homes or in private spaces from people they know rather than in public places from strangers. There is need for a radical rethinking about the definition of crime and the kind of protection citizens need. Left to their own devices, police will usually choose to focus "protection" efforts on the control of young, minority men. There must also be a clearer understanding of how people act to protect themselves and when and under what circumstances they decide to seek police action. 3-item bibliography