NCJ Number
46245
Date Published
1979
Length
67 pages
Annotation
FINDINGS OF A SURVEY OF 4,906 SAN DIEGO, CALIF., HOUSING UNITS (9,125 RESIDENTS) TAKEN IN 1974 UNDER THE NATIONAL CRIME SURVEY PROGRAM TO ASSESS PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES RELATING TO CRIME ARE REPORTED.
Abstract
ALTHOUGH THREE-FOURTHS OF THE RESIDENTS OF SAN DIEGO BELIEVED THAT CRIME WAS ON THE RISE IN THE NATION AND ROUGHLY HALF ESTIMATED THAT THEIR CHANCES OF BEING ROBBED OR ATTACKED HAD INCREASED, THEY WERE LESS PESSIMISTIC IN THEIR ASSESSMENTS OF OTHER CRIME-RELATED MATTERS. CRIME AND THE FEAR OF CRIME, MOREOVER, HAD MADE NO IMPACT ON THE DAILY ROUTINE OF MOST OF THE CITY'S RESIDENTS. FEWER THAN HALF AS MANY PERSONS WHO THOUGHT THAT CRIME HAD INCREASED NATIONALLY BELIEVED THAT CRIME WAS INCREASING IN THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD, AND VERY FEW CONSIDERED THEIR PLACE OF RESIDENCE TO BE MORE DANGEROUS THAN OTHER VICINITIES IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA. ROUGHLY 7 OUT OF EVERY 10 FELT AT LEAST REASONABLY SAFE WHEN OUT ALONE IN THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD AT NIGHT, AND A MUCH HIGHER PROPORTION EXPRESSED NO UNEASE ABOUT THE DAYTIME; NOR WERE MOST RESIDENTS DETERRED BY CRIME OR THE FEAR OF CRIME FROM ENTERING OTHER PARTS OF THE METROPOLITAN AREA WHENEVER THEY NEEDED OR DESIRED TO DO SO. CRIME WAS SELDOM MENTIONED AS THE IMPORTANT NEIGHBORHOOD PROBLEM, AND IT HAD NOT BEEN A MAJOR INFLUENCE ON WHERE RESIDENTS SHOPPED OR SOUGHT AN EVENING'S ENTERTAINMENT. AMONG THOSE WHO HAD MOVED DURING THE 5 YEARS PRECEDING THE SURVEY, CRIME WAS NOT AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN THE DECISION TO MOVE OR IN THE CHOICE OF LOCATION. NONETHELESS, SOME 28 PERCENT OF THE RESIDENTS ADMITTED THAT THEY HAD CHANGED OR LIMITED THEIR ACTIVITIES IN SOME UNDEFINED MANNER BECAUSE OF CRIME OR THE FEAR OF CRIME. BASED ON 37 STATISTICAL DATA TABLES, THIS DISCUSSION CENTERS ON PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES RELATING TO TRENDS IN CRIME, FEAR OF CRIME, RESIDENTIAL PROBLEMS AND LIFESTYLES, AND LOCAL POLICE PERFORMANCE. THIS REPORT IS ONE OF A SERIES OF 13 AND A COMPANION TO 'CRIMINAL VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS IN SAN DIEGO' (1977), WHICH REPORTED ON THE RATES OF RAPE, ROBBERY, ASSAULT, BURGLARY, LARCENY, AND MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT FOUND BY THE SURVEY. CHARTS ARE INCLUDED. THE SURVEY DATA TABLES, SURVEY INSTRUMENT, TECHNICAL INFORMATION, A GLOSSARY, AND USER EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE ARE APPENDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED-DAG)