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MILWAUKEE (WI) - PUBLIC ATTITUDES ABOUT CRIME

NCJ Number
46240
Editor(s)
A L PAEZ
Date Published
1978
Length
62 pages
Annotation
FINDINGS ARE PRESENTED OF A SURVEY OF 5,243 HOUSING UNITS (10,094 MILWAUKEE, WISC., RESIDENTS) CONDUCTED IN 1974 UNDER THE NATIONAL CRIME SURVEY PROGRAM.
Abstract
BASED ON 37 STATISTICAL DATA TABLES, THE DISCUSSION CENTERS ON PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES RELATING TO TRENDS IN CRIME, FEAR OF CRIME, RESIDENTIAL PROBLEMS AND LIFESTYLE, AND LOCAL POLICE PERFORMANCE. A MAJORITY OF THE MILWAUKEE RESPONDENTS FELT THAT CRIME IN THE U.S. WAS ON THE INCREASE, THAT THE PROBLEM OF CRIME WAS AS SERIOUS AS PORTRAYED BY THE NEWS MEDIA, AND THAT THEIR OWN CHANCES OF BEING CRIMINALLY VICTIMIZED HAVE INCREASED MOST ALSO BELIEVED THAT PEOPLE HAD GENERALLY CURTAILED THEIR ACTIVITIES BECAUSE OF FEAR OF CRIME. ALTHOUGH EXPRESSIONS OF FEAR OF CRIME WERE EVIDENT, CRIME DID NOT EMERGE AS A MAJOR REASON FOR ALTERING PERSONAL OR DOMESTIC ACTIVITIES OR FOR CHOOSING WHERE TO LIVE. MOST RESIDENTS OF MILWAUKEE WERE NOT AFRAID TO TRAVEL ABOUT THE CITY AT ANY TIME OF THE DAY, AND ONLY ABOUT 1 IN 20 CONSIDERED THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOODS MORE DANGEROUS THAN OTHERS OR IDENTIFIED CRIME AS THE VICINITY'S MOST SERIOUS PROBLEM. IT WAS ALSO FOUND THAT PERSONS WHO HAD BEEN VICTIMS OF CRIME DURING 1973 WERE MORE APPREHENSIVE ABOUT MATTERS RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY; VICTIMIZATION EXPERIENCE SEEMED TO PLAY A RELATIVELY MINOR ROLE IN MOLDING ATTITUDES; WOMEN WERE CONSIDERABLY LESS REASSURED THAN MEN ABOUT SAFETY OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD; AND BLACK WOMEN FELT THEIR PERSONAL LIVES HAD BEEN ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY CRIME. ALTHOUGH A SLIGHT MAJORITY CONSIDERED LOCAL POLICE PERFORMANCE TO BE GOOD, ABOUT 9 IN 10 SAID THAT THE MANNER IN WHICH THE POLICE WERE DISCHARGING THEIR DUTIES WAS NO LOWER THAN AVERAGE; BLACKS, MORE SO THAN WHITES, RATED POLICE PERFORMANCE AS AVERAGE OR SUBSTANDARD. TABULAR DATA, THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT, AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION ARE APPENDED. A GLOSSARY IS PROVIDED. THIS REPORT IS 1 OF A SERIES OF 13 AND A COMPANION TO 'CRIMINAL VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS IN MILWAUKEE' -- SEE NCJ-34823. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--KBL)