THE REPORT IS BASED ON INTERVIEW RESPONSES BY THE RESIDENTS OF 4,737 HOUSING UNITS (8,102 RESIDENTS AGE 16 AND OVER). RESULTS OF THESE INTERVIEWS WERE INFLATED BY MEANS OF A MULTISTAGE WEIGHTING PROCEDURE TO PRODUCE ESTIMATES APPLICABLE TO ALL RESIDENTS AGE 16 AND OVER AND TO DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL SUBGROUPS OF THAT POPULATION. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS COVERED FOUR TOPICAL AREAS: CRIME TRENDS, FEAR OF CRIME, RESIDENTIAL PROBLEMS AND LIFESTYLES, AND LOCAL POLICE PERFORMANCE. WITH SOME NOTABLE EXCEPTIONS, A HIGH DEGREE OF CONSENSUS CHARACTERIZED THE OPINIONS OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS, WHO WERE DIFFERENTIATED ON THE BASIS OF CONVENTIONAL DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES. THE PATTERNS OF RESPONSES OF BOTH VICTIMS AND NONVICTIMS GENERALLY AGREED. THREE-FOURTHS OF THE CITY'S RESIDENTS BELIEVED THAT CRIME IN THE U.S. WAS INCREASING, ALTHOUGH THEY WERE FAR LESS LIKELY TO BELIEVE THAT NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME HAD RISEN. A MAJORITY FELT THAT THEY LIVED IN RELATIVELY SAFE AREAS, AND NEIGHBORING RESIDENTS WERE INFREQUENTLY CITED AS THE PERPETRATORS OF CRIME. THERE WAS A DEFINITE TENDENCY FOR OLDER RESIDENTS TO FEEL MORE APPREHENSIVE ABOUT, IF NOT INTIMIDATED BY, CRIME. TWO-THIRDS OF THE ELDERLY (AGE 65 AND OVER) FELT UNSAFE WHEN OUT IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS AT NIGHT, AND 58 PERCENT SAID THAT THEY HAD LIMITED OR CHANGED THEIR ACTIVITIES BECAUSE OF THEIR FEAR OF CRIME. BLACKS, THE SMALLER OF THE TWO RACIAL MINORITIES STUDIED, CONSISTENTLY EXPRESSED GREATER DISSATISFACTION WITH THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS. THEY WERE MORE APT THAN WHITES OR OTHERS TO FEEL THAT THEIR VICINITIES WERE UNSAFE; TO SAY THAT THEY HAD MODIFIED THEIR ACTIVITIES; AND TO HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT MOVING ELSEWHERE. APPENDED MATERIALS INCLUDE: A LIST OF THE 37 DATA TABLES UPON WHICH THE ANALYSIS IS BASED; A COPY OF THE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE; AND INFORMATION ON SAMPLE DESIGN AND SIZE, THE ESTIMATION PROCEDURE, RELIABILITY OF ESTIMATES, AND SIGNIFICANCE TESTING, AS WELL AS STANDARD ERROR TABLES. A GLOSSARY IS PROVIDED. (VDA)